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Kidney News

New research

Climate change may lead more people to develop kidney stones

Jan 26th 2022
Author: Amna N.
Review: Dr. Umair H.

The global climate crisis could cause more people to suffer from kidney stones, a study suggests. 

According to a new finding by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, kidney stone cases will increase between 2.2% and 3.9% as the global temperature rises. Raised temperatures due to the climate crisis will subsequently lead to a rise in people suffering from kidney stones. According to a new discovery, it is a painful medical condition that worsens by heat and dehydration. Researchers used two climate scenarios to assess the burden of heat and humidity relating towards kidney stones by the end of century in South Carolina. This region currently has a higher-than-average prevalence rate. 

About one in 10 people in the US suffer from kidney stones at a certain point in their life. Kidney stones are the results of hard deposits of minerals (mainly calcium) that develop in concentrated urine and are extremely painful while passing through the urinary tract. 

The cases of kidney stones has escalated over the past two decades, especially among people of color, women, and adolescents. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (Chop) researchers found, the number of cases will significantly increase, that will cause huge rise in health costs, is directly related to whether greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate or are lowered down to an intermediate level. 

Diet and lifestyle changes have aided in the rise in the condition, but prior studies have shown that high ambient temperatures increase the risk. People who are seeking medical help for kidney stones worsen during sweltering days when the risk of dehydration increases. 

A pediatric urologist at Chop and senior author of the study published in Scientific Reports states that the impact of climate change on human health, particularly children, is often not discussed, but the warming of the planet will cause notable impacts on human health. He elaborated that it’s uncertain to predict how future policies will influence the pace of reducing or exacerbating greenhouse gas emissions and human-induced climate change and to predict exactly what future daily temperatures will be. He further suggested that as pediatric researchers, it is essential to investigate the impact of climate change on human health, as today’s children will be the ones experiencing its effects in the future.