Kidney stones tread north US
global warming has earlier been implicated to increase incidences of vector borne diseases. A study now shows that it can also bring about a 30 per cent increase in kidney stone cases. The kidney stone belt of the southeastern part of the us is expected to expand northwards with climate change.
The number of people living in high-risk zones for kidney stones will grow from 40 per cent in 2000 to 56 per cent by 2050, and to 70 per cent by 2095, the study says. It could also trigger a 25 per cent increase in treatment costs over current expenditures.
The southeast has higher prevalence of stone diseases than the northwest because the mean annual temperature in the southeast is around 8