Could global warming cause surge in kidney stones?

Warm weather is causing more patients to be diagnosed with kidney stones, scientists have revealed.

Higher temperatures contribute to dehydration, which increases the risk of kidney stones in those people predisposed to the condition, a new study has found.

Researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia examined 60,000 patients in several cities across the U.S., with varying climates, discovering a link between hot days and kidney stones, Daily Mail reported.

The study raises the theory that as the planet warms up climate change is taking its toll on human health.

Lead researcher and urologist, Gregory Tasian, said: 'We found that as daily temperatures rise, there is a rapid increase in the probability of patients presenting over the next 20 days with kidney stones.

While stones remain more common in adults, the numbers of children developing kidney stones has soared in the last 25 years.

The new study also found extremely low temperatures increased the risk of kidney stones in three cities - Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia.

The researchers said low temperatures causes more people to stay inside in the warm, causing changes in diet and decreased exercise levels, which could increase risk of stone formation.

Future studies should examine how risk patterns vary in different populations, including among children, which only represented a small percentage of those analysed in the current study.

The authors note that other scientists have reported overall global temperatures between 2000 and 2009 were higher than 82 per cent of temperatures over the last 11,300 years.

Furthermore, increases in greenhouse gas emissions are expected to raise Earth's average temperatures by 1 to 4.5°C by 2100.

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