Page 41 - Spring2010

STONED related. Seventy-five to ninety percent of kidney One million
Oxalates can form all throughout the kidney stones are made of oxalic acid bound to another Americans
and the urinary tract, and can also form in the compound, usually calcium.
ureter as well as in the bladder. These star-shaped Once you have experienced a kidney stone develop
crystalline stones cause pain as the pressure in attack, you have a very high chance of having kidney stones
the urinary filtrate builds up, and perhaps also by another unless you change your way. The com- each year and
tearing into the walls of the urinary tract itself. mon symptoms are pain in the side and the back
Some kidney stones acquire a stag horn below the ribs. The episodes of pain last between most of these
shape, while some oxalate crystals resemble twenty to sixty minutes, and it is common to hear are oxalate
pieces of coral. The crystals do have a lot of cal- women who have suffered kidney stones claim related.
cium in them just as coral does. Oxalate crystals that they are more painful than childbirth.
appear in different colors. Some are black and The pain radiates from the side and the back
almost look the color of Indian arrowheads made to the lower abdomen and groin. There may be
of obsidian. On page 42 is shown a picture of a bloody, cloudy and foul-smelling urine. If there
kidney with one of the oxalate crystals imbedded is infection, there may also be fever and chills.
in it. You can see that the crystal is very pointed. Pain with urination may accompany nausea and
Some of these have extremely sharp ends that vomiting, and the sufferer may have a persistent
cause severe pain. urge to urinate.
Kidney stones are one of the most common This last symptom is a common factor in
medical ailments—ten to fifteen percent of adults autism. It has been noted that many children with
will be diagnosed with a kidney stone in their autism urinate perhaps fifty times a day, but only
lifetime. One million Americans develop kidney release a small amount of urine each time. After I
stones each year and most of these are oxalate did my research it became clear that the behavior

THE CHEMISTRY OF OxALATES

Oxalate refers to the salt form of oxalic acid. All acids follow the same convention of nomenclature. The salt of citric
acid is citrate, for example. The salt form simply means it is missing hydrogen atoms. Instead, the salt form has a negative
charge attached to it. When the acid has the hydrogen attached to it, it has the suffix –ic. When the hydrogen atoms are
removed so that it is negatively charged, it has the suffix –ate. The critical thing about this, from the chemist’s point of
view, is that the pH, which is a measure of the acidity of the molecule, of oxalates is the lowest of all the organic acids. (A
low pH rating corresponds to a high level of acidity.) It’s the most acidic, most corrosive organic acid there is because of
its very low pH value. For example, citric acid might have a pH of 5—mildly acidic in comparison, and hundreds of times
less acidic than oxalate. The molecule of oxalic acid could lose two hydrogen atoms so it can become doubly negatively
charged and this is the form in which oxalate is predominantly found in the blood and the urine. This form in which
there are two negative charges makes it much more likely to bind to a number of metals. Calcium, zinc and mercury are
examples.
What is very interesting from the chemist’s point of view is the fact that oxalate binds most tightly to toxic metals
such as mercury and lead. One might think this strong chelating action is beneficial, but it is quite the opposite. Once
oxalate binds with mercury or lead it immediately becomes insoluble and precipitates out of the bloodstream and forms
crystals in the bones and other tissues. Rather than attaching to these toxic metals and escorting them out of the body,
the oxalate traps the toxic metals within the body. This is one aspect of oxalates that I believe should be more closely
examined as it may explain why oxalates are associated with so many diseases. They will trap heavy metals and enhance
their toxicity.
The oxalate itself is water soluble, but once it binds with a metal ion it becomes insoluble and then precipitates out
to be deposited in tissue. In a comparison of the different strengths of reaction of oxalates with various metals, the metal
with the highest reactivity is mercury. When oxalate reacts with mercury, even if there is only a tiny amount present, it
will preferentially bind with mercury compared to calcium or other metals. The oxalate almost seems to seek out and
trap toxic metals. The reactivity of oxalate with calcium and magnesium, on the other hand, is very low, and the lowest
reactivity is with magnesium. One of the treatments to help people get rid of excess oxalates is to take very high doses
of magnesium, or in some cases, actually give intravenous infusions of magnesium. Because it has the least solubility with
oxalates magnesium will help to dissolve them, so to speak.

SPRING 2010 Wise Traditions 41