A Bizarre And Unpleasant Side-Effect Of Global Warming
Posted on July 15, 2008 by andrew
I saw this on the Elevator News while getting my lunch and found it hard to believe, but there it was on the websites of several news organizations. Here’s Time’s version:
University of Texas researchers have laid out some of the most compelling science to date linking climate change with adverse public-health effects: scientists predict a steady rise in the U.S. incidence of kidney stones — a medical condition largely brought on by dehydration — as the planet continues to warm.
Kidney stones are already more common in the warmer Southern states than in the North. Urologists even talk about a “kidney stone belt,” a high-risk zone through the South where populations are more likely to develop stones — crystallized chemicals (usually calcium, phosphates and oxalates from an ordinary diet) that form in the urinary tract, and often cause sharp, intense pain when they pass. The Texas researchers used regional data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to predict how this belt might grow, publishing their report this month in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. By 2050, the research suggests, 56% of Americans will live in regions encompassed by the kidney stone belt, compared with 40% in 2000. And by 2095, the belt should expand to 70% of the population.
Really? Kidney stones? Global warming sucks.
Sphere: Related Content» Filed Under climate change, health scares, medicine
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11 Responses to “A Bizarre And Unpleasant Side-Effect Of Global Warming”
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Punch all. While it is an interesting (though not altogether statistically compelling) study, it entirely misses the point. Kidney stones are the results of many things, and while some people are genetically more likely to get them, they can be prevented with a bunch of different methods, including, most basically, DRINKING WATER. The reason the South is so busted up with kidney stones is that it combines hot, humid weather with stupid idiots who drink sugar all day, eat cranberries (also bad for the stones) and salt EVERYTHING they eat, including friend pickles.
Now this article comes along and makes it seem as if kidney stones are unavoidable and global warming is going to give northerners kidney stones. Sure, it might make the weather a little more southerny, but only a continuing decrease in dietary habits and health care would increase the actual number of kidney stones here.
Cranberries? I think not.
The oxalates in cranberries DEFINITELY aid in the formation of kidney stones. Their juice might help in preventing UTIs generally, but they are definitely bad for people prone to stones.
I meant that Southerners are not known for the cranberry consumption.
I can’t believe you two are arguing over cranberries. Did neither of you (nor anyone else)
actually read Sean’s first comment?
“…and salt EVERYTHING they eat, including friend pickles.”
Hilarious typo!
Typo my ass….I meant to say that Southerners even salt the pole they smoke. That’s right.
As for Carol’s claim, she is correct as to cranberry JUICE. West Coasters and New Englanders are the largest consumers there, mostly because they use it as a mixer and as morning after preventative measures for UTIs.
The wholesome southerner, with no such needs, is far and away more likely to consume cranberries in another form, be it sauce, pie or the berry itself. These forms, mind you, are overwhelmingly more concentratative (the best word) of the harmful oxalates. BAM! All my years in Cranberry College have finally paid off.
Go skates!
According to “Cranberries: A Nationwide Survey on Consumer Attitudes,” those who live in New England or on the West Coast are more likely to purchase cranberry products than those who live in other parts of the country.
http://www.uscranberries.com/eng/admin/documents/document_030511082144.pdf
I read that report yesterday, and two others. It makes it very clear that the largest “product” is juice, thus agreeing with what I said before. However, both of the others point out that cranberry products are very much a regional issue, and that the juice is generally a NE and West Coast thing, while other products are more a southern thing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Cranberrys_beim_Ernten.jpeg
Skates loses! (even if we all like his pickle) The oxalate content of cranberries is contained primarily in the juice so pure cranberry juice contains significantly more than whole berries. And if you’re drinking cranberry juice cocktail you end up with about the same content as sauce or jelly or whatever. And a moderate amount of juice (<1L/day) has been shown to reduce oxalate content overall and seems to have some sort of preventative effect on kidney stones.
On the other hand collard greens, peanuts, okra, and tea (all southern staples) are among the most oxalate intense (huh?) foods out there. These probably contribute to the problem with KS in the south but the whole point of the original article was that an increase in temperature has led to a higher incidence of KS. Foods are only responsible for b/w 10-15% of oxalate content in your body anyway so probably other things like low water consumption lead to lots of pointy crystals in your bladder.
Of course Skates did mention water and salt so he got those right and two out of three ain’t bad.