Global Warming May Cause Kidney Stone Cases To Rise:

In a new study, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center and UT Dallas, have predicted that Global warming may increase the number of people affected by kidney stones.The researchers predicted that by 2050, higher temperatures will cause an additional 1.6 million to 2.2 million kidney-stone cases, representing up to a 30 percent growth in some areas.

"This study is one of the first examples of global warming causing a direct medical consequence for humans," said Dr. Margaret Pearle, professor of urology at UT Southwestern and senior author of the paper, which appears in today's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Kidney stones are excruciatingly painful hard deposits of minerals and salts that can form in the kidneys that tend to be more common in hot climates, with dehydration a key risk factor for the condition.

Kidney stones currently are most common in the southeastern United States, but this "kidney stone belt" is forecast to grow to the northward and westward, the researchers wrote in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers have found that people who live in warmer regions have a higher rate of developing kidney stones compared to people who live in other regions.

This is caused by the fact that sweating removes fluid from the body, increasing salt concentration in urine. Not drinking enough water and other fluids or losing too much fluids through dehydration more likely in hotter climates can leave one's urine with higher concentrations of substances that can form kidney stones.

The fear is that by the year 2050, global warming may progress to the point where there is a great spike in the number of kidney stone cases. The annual cost in the United States of treating kidney stone cases could increase by 2050 by about $1 billion per year i.e. 25 percent more than current levels.