http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-kidney-stones-global-warmingjul15,0,4628095.story

In light of the controversy surrounding Vice President Cheney's editing of CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding's testimony on the health risks associated with climate change, new studies detail the extent of dangers humans will face thanks to climate change: kidney stones. Immensely painful kidney stones, also called renal calculi, are solid concretions (crystal aggregations) of dissolved minerals in urine; calculi typically form inside the kidneys or bladder.

Linking climate change to kidney stones seems odd, but it's based on the solid medical finding that people in warm regions develop the condition at increased rates. Sweating in warm weather removes fluid from the body and increases the salt concentration in urine, which can spur the growth of kidney stones.

By the year 2050, the new report estimates that a large chunk of Illinois will fall within America's "kidney-stone belt," which currently includes only Southern states. The Chicago area alone would see up to 100,000 extra cases each year, according to the report published Monday in a widely respected journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

That sort of medical chain reaction may barely hint at the looming public health threat of global warming, researchers say. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that higher temperatures could bring more lethal heat waves, more blooms of algae that infect fish with toxins, and the easier spread of some insect-borne illnesses such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

"Climate change's impact on public health will be broad, severe and affect all sectors of the public health system," said George Luber, associate director for climate change at the CDC's national center for environmental health.

Treatment for the increased rates of kidney stones alone is estimated to cost an additional $1 billion. Should comprehensive climate change legislation include an updating to public health infrastructure in order to prevent and treat the predicted negative health effects of climate change?

Chicago Tribune; July 15, 2008

Submitted by B. Shapiro