Kidney Stone Rates Spike in Children, Women and African Americans, Study Finds

Cases of kidney stones have increased in children, women and African Americans over the past couple of years, according to a new study. Researchers say the growing number of diagnoses in these groups is concerning, especially since kidney stones are typically more common in old, white males.

For this report, the team analyzed data on 4.6 million people living in South Carolina gathered between 1997 and 2012. They found that the yearly rate for kidney stones has increased by 16 percent. The group that experienced the greatest increase was teens at 4.7 percent per year. In women and African Americans, the annual increase rate was around three percent.

The team also found that the risk of kidney stones increased in all of the three groups. For children, lifetime risk doubled. For women, lifetime risk increased by 45 percent, which is very troubling since kidney stones have been linked to an increased risk of chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease in young women.

"The emergence of kidney stones in children is particularly worrisome, because there is limited evidence on how to best treat children for this condition," said study leader Dr. Gregory Tasian, reported by HealthDay via Philly.com. "The fact that stones were once rare and are now increasingly common could contribute to the inappropriate use of diagnostic tests such as CT scans for children with kidney stones, since health care providers historically have not been accustomed to evaluating and treating children with kidney stones."

He noted that other factors that can increase risk of kidney stones include poor drinking water and bad eating habits.

The study's findings were published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.