Climate Change Could Raise Kidney Stone Risk
New research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) suggests an unexpected effect of global warming: a future expansion of the US “kidney stone belt”.
According to the research, increasing global temperatures will result in more cases dehydration and low urine production leading to kidney stones (calcium deposits).
The US already has a “kidney stone belt” in which occurences of the painful condition are twice as common as in the rest of the country. The research predicts:
“The fraction of the U.S. population living in high-risk zones for nephrolithiasis will grow from 40% in 2000 to 56% by 2050, and to 70% by 2095.”
If the research findings are correct then millions of Americans could literally feel the pain of global warming.
Photo Credit: Trevor Blake (Creative Commons)
My employee has a kidney stone.. i can see him having a really hard time coping up with the pain.. he always mention the cause of the stones are from uric acid or something.. I didnt realize it involves climate change also.. im gonna relay this to him.. nice article.. keep up the good work!!!
Comment by boney | July 15, 2008