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Laser treatment fragments a kidney stone painfully passing through the ureter to the bladder. |
Confirming anecdotal reports of doctors, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston found a tripling of kidney stones in children at pediatric hospitals across the country in the last decade.
"If you look at the raw numbers, the upward trend goes through the roof," says Caleb P. Nelson, MD, MPH, co-director of the Children's Kidney Stone Center. "The increase is not so dramatic when you adjust for hospital volume, but it is still there." The proportion of kidney stones among all patients at children's hospitals increased about 10 percent a year, from about 18.4 per 100,000 patients in 1999 to 57.0 per 100,000 in 2008, showed a study (Journal of Urology, September).
Although on the upswing, kidney stones in children remain relatively uncommon, about half the rate of appendicitis, the researchers calculated. "We don't have a good handle on why it may be going up," says Dr. Nelson, who notices his patients tend to be healthy-weight teens who may not drink sufficient water or who may have a family history of kidney stones. Studies in adults have implicated obesity and dietary salt, both of which are on the rise in children.
More information: childrenshospital.org/stone
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