Kidney stones: One more thing to look forward to in our climate-changed future

[xchrom]

http://grist.org/list/kidney-stones-one-more-thing-to-look-forward-to-in-our-climate-changed-future/

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***SNIP

While excessive heat was a big factor, rapid changes in temperature were also a big predictor. Atlanta and Los Angeles, for instance, have the same average temperature of 63 degrees, but Atlanta, which is far more prone to temperature extremes than seemingly climate controlled Los Angeles, had twice the reported rate of kidney stones. Sobering, as most climate models predict not only warmer temperatures, but more radically fluctuating weather patterns.

Sandy Bauers at The Philadelphia Inquirer has more:

Given the history of climate change science – predictions that, no matter how draconian, are often so vague that the dangers are easily ignored or misinterpreted – the specificity of new research out Thursday from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is intriguing: measurable rises in the number of kidney-stone cases at hospitals and doctors’ offices that can be linked to increases, even small ones, in the average daily temperature.

Their research suggests that both adults and children could be at a higher risk for the painful condition as the world warms.

“Kidney-stone prevalence has already been on the rise over the last 30 years,” said Gregory Tasian, a pediatric urologist and epidemiologist at Children’s, and lead author of the new paper. “We can expect this trend to continue, both in greater numbers and over a broader geographic area, as daily temperatures increase.”


***OW.

[littlemissmartypants]

1. Just one more thing to add to the list. eom