Keep your urinary system running clear

By Li Zhixin

While kidney stones have long been a common ailment of middle age, pediatric urologists and kidney specialists in the US have reported a sharp rise in their incidence among children during the past decade.

Stones on the rise among children

Using data from 42 American pediatric hospitals, researchers found that the number of children diagnosed with kidney stones each year has risen from 125 in 1999 to 1,389 in 2008.

That translates into 57 cases per 100,000 children treated at the hospitals in 2008, the researchers reported in the Journal of Urology.

Another study published earlier this year also showed that kidney stones were diagnosed in children four times as often in 2007 as in 1996.

It’s not clear whether, or to what extent, the increase seen in the current study reflects an upswing in kidney stones among children in general, because the figures come from children seen at hospitals, rather than from the general population.

But kidney stones are being treated more often at children’s hospitals.

In recent years, more hospitals have opened pediatric kidney stone clinics. Some researchers said the current findings could have been driven in part by intensified marketing of stone-management services at the hospitals included in the study.

But there are other reasons to believe there has been an increase in kidney stones – especially with obesity being a known risk factor.

In addition to poor dietary habits, low fluid consumption and high sodium, animal fat and protein intake can contribute to kidney stones.

Children with a family history of kidney stones are at a much greater risk of developing them early in life. Researchers suggested that parents of such children ensure that they stay well-hydrated, especially during the summer months, because water is the best way to prevent stones.

But despite the study’s alarmist tone, it is important to note that even with the increase in repeated incidents kidney stones remain a rare ailment in children.