Well, those look horribly painful to pass
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Health risks for younger adults have been getting higher and higher in past decades, with multiple studies confirming either an increased risk of developing disease, or an ignorance that is similarly dangerous. In another recent study from Philadelphia, kidney stones on the rise for most specific groups.
Up until recently, the group most at risk of developing the highly painful affliction that is having kidney stones was middle aged white males.
However, over the past two decades, the trends have shifted quite a bit, having other groups be increasingly at risk of developing the disease.
The group led by Gregory Tasian, pediatric epidemiologist and urologist from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia performed a meta-analysis of kidney stone cases throughout the South Carolina region, and found some pretty disturbing changes in patterns.
By looking at 153,000 cases of kidney stones developed in both children and adults, the researchers observed how fewer middle aged white males started developing the affliction, instead having it move to other populations.
Overall, between 1997 and 2012 the incidence rate of kidney stone cases increased by 16%; however, compared to how it increased for other statistical groups, like adolescents and women, that raise is quite little.
The highest recorded rise in incidence took place for teenagers, whose incidence increased by 4.7% every year. They were followed close by by women, which appeared to develop 3% more cases of kidney stones a year. Next followed the African-American cases, which increased by 2.9% every year.
For more interesting statistics, the increase in numbers of kidney stone cases increased by 15% more for African-Americans every five years, and the highest rate of incidence growth was seen by females.
Females aged 10 to 24 reported the all-time highest incidence rate, but after the age of 25, men are again the most afflicted social group.
There are multiple possible answers for the drastic pattern changes, but since the study was a meta-analysis of kidney stone cases, the team couldn’t come out with an answer backed up by facts.
What the team theorizes is that the increased incidence rates are due to increasingly poor eating habits among the US population, as well as possibly climate change.
It was known for a long while that decreased calcium intake and increased sodium intake, as well as dehydration or poor water intake are linked to kidney stones, so the scientists are almost certainly right on this one.
However, despite the fact that increased temperatures are also a known cause of kidney stones, it’s quite far-fetched to sat that climate change is responsible for increased kidney stone rates.
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