Risk of Kidney Stones Among U.S. Women Rises: Study

A new study says that women are increasingly at risk of developing kidney stones.

A new study based on the number of cases seen in emergency departments states that the U.S. women are at an increased risk of developing kidney stones. Despite this increase in the number of cases in the emergency departments, the rate of hospitalization for this disorder has remained stable.

This four-year study led by researchers at the Henry Ford Hospital focused on trends in visits, rate of hospitalization and charges for kidney stones,

Khurshid R. Ghani, M.D., of Henry Ford's Vattikuti Urology Institute and lead author of the study said, ""While the number of patients visiting the emergency department had increased over that time period, it was women who had the greatest increase in visits."

Prior to this, population based studies have been done that highlight the rise in kidney stones among women. The new findings based on emergency room visits offer more evidence that there is an increase in the risk of women suffering from kidney stones.

Dr.Ghani states that one of the major risk factor for kidney stones is obesity, which is on the rise among women.  Obese women are more likely to develop kidney stones than obese men.

Based on the data from Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS), the team checked visits to the emergency room between 2006 and 2009. On examining the data they found  more than 3.6 million visits to the ER for upper urinary tract stones. There was a rise in the occurrence of the disorder during the study period from 286 to 306 per 100,000 people. Nearly 12 percent were hospitalized among the study group, this rate remained stable during the study period.

"I think in the last 10 years, the way urologists manage kidney stone patients in the ER has changed dramatically," says Dr. Ghani. "Today, the emergency room physician and urologist have access to better diagnostic tools that allow for a more precise diagnosis. We use a CT scan, which is a quick test that allows for an immediate diagnosis and is available in every emergency department. Better diagnosis may be contributing to our findings that patients are not being admitted to the hospital as frequently as they had in the past. Also, medication can help with the spontaneous passage of these stones. As a result, some of these patients may be safely managed through the outpatient system with follow-up visits."

The ones who were hospitalized mainly suffered from sepsis or blood infection, which generally occurs when a stone causes a blockage and urinary tract infection.

The study also noted an increase in the charges for emergency department visits from $3.8 billion dollars in 2006 to $5 billion in 2009. The researchers felt that this might be due to the increase use of CT scans for diagnosis.

A study conducted earlier stated that women with kidney stones are at a higher risk of developing heart diseases and other cardiac problems.

The study was published in the journal Urology.