Kidney Stone Ailments Forecast To Go Up 25 Percent In 2050 Due To Global Warming

Dallas, TX (AHN) - A University of Texas Southwestern Medical School study linked the rise in kidney stone ailments to global warming.

The connection of kidney stone with warm weather has been established based on statistics that southeastern states have 50 percent higher incident than northeastern states. Kidney stones, although on the rise nationwide since 1976, were observed to have higher rates of occurrence during summer

With global warming even the northeastern region will likely experience higher incidents with an estimated 1.6 million new cases by 2050.

The rise in kidney stone incidents by 25 percent in 2050 will be accompanied by a corresponding annual $900 million hike in kidney-related treatment bills compared with 2000 levels. The high-risk zones will expand to 56 percent of states by 2050 and 70 percent by 2095.

David Goldfarb of the New York University Medical center said, quoted by the USA Today, "Everyone on warmer temperatures is at higher risk for kidney stones, so the findings make perfect sense."

Aside from an expected rise in kidney stone ailments, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said global warming may also bring with it more deadly heat waves, algae blooms that infect marine life with toxins and the faster spread of certain insect-borne diseases like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.