Primary liquid intake and urinary stone disease.

This investigation indicates that there are important associations between urinary stone disease and a person's primary liquid intake. Based on data collected from 2295 caucasian male patients from two geographical regions, the Carolinas (both North and South) and the Rockies (including Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Utah and Wyoming) an important (p less than 0.01) positive association was found between urinary stone disease and soda (carbonated beverage) consumption within both geographical regions. It was also found that negative associations exist between urinary stone disease and both beer consumption and coffee consumption in the Rockies and that no important associations exist between urinary stone disease and any of milk, water, or tea, when these beverages represent a person's primary liquid intake. Moreover, soda can be viewed almost synonymously as sugared cola, since few subjects had diet sodas or sugared non-cola soda as primary fluid. No cause/effect relationships are implied in this paper.