"We don't have an explanation yet, but we're hoping that these findings stimulate further study," says Loeb.
KIDS WITH KIDNEY STONES HAVE ADULT HEALTH PROBLEMS
--Pediatric kidney stones often accompanied by diabetes and high blood pressure
AUA Meeting, April 27, 1:00 3:00 PM, Podium Session 28, #1063, W474 AB @ McCormick Place West
Recent studies have shown that adults who develop kidney stones often have a host of accompanying health problems, including diabetes and high blood pressure. Now, Johns Hopkins researchers have found that these same health problems may also plague kids who develop kidney stones.
While obesity and kidney stones have both been on the rise in children, it's been unclear if these conditions are linked, says Anthony Schaeffer, M.D., assistant resident in the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. To investigate, he and his colleagues pulled information from a public database of nearly three million pediatric patients to see whether the same adult comorbidities accompanied kidney stones in kids.
Comparing health data from the nearly 7,000 patients in the database who were diagnosed with kidney stones to others who were not, the researchers confirmed other studies that suggest that age remains the strongest predictor of stones, with teenagers having a 2.5 times higher risk than younger children. Interestingly, though, Schaeffer and his colleagues found that when children younger than 6 years of age have high blood pressure or diabetes, they have a tenfold higher risk of stones compared to those older than 6 years.
The findings show that children aren't shielded from the same comorbidities that affect adult kidney stone patients, Schaeffer says. "We're suggesting that if a child develops a kidney stone, his or her physician might want
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| Contact: Christen Brownlee cbrownlee@jhmi.edu 410-955-7832 Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Source:Eurekalert |