| Each year between 600,000 and 1,000,000 | | | | closing with an increase in the number of women |
| Americans will be affected by kidney stones. It has | | | | getting them. This may be in part due the diets of |
| been estimated that 20% of the time it will require | | | | women becoming more similar. Also a women's |
| hospitalization. For unknown reasons, the number of | | | | anatomy is set up to produce more UTIs than in |
| people affected by them has been on the increase | | | | men and the combination of a kidney stone and |
| over the past 20 years, especially in developed | | | | infection makes for a less positive outcome. |
| nations. Even though the prevalence of kidney stones | | | | Genetics |
| is on the rise, stones have been found in an Egyptian | | | | Overall, stone formation is 4-5 times more likely in |
| skeleton estimated to be over 7000 years old. Many | | | | Caucasians than in African Americans with calcium |
| notable individuals have suffered from them, including | | | | stones more likely in those with Anglo-Saxon |
| Louis Napolean III (Emperor of France), Benjamin | | | | ancestries. Uric Acid stones form more commonly in |
| Franklin, and Lyndon B Johnson. | | | | those of Mediterranean ancestries, particularly those |
| Seventy-Five percent of stone suffers will have at | | | | of Portuguese extraction. It is not fully understood |
| least one recurrence. The relative risk of forming a | | | | why certain stones run in families or common |
| second stone in 10 years 60-80%, in 5 years 50 %; | | | | ancestries. It may be due to inherited physiological |
| two-thirds of men experience recurrent with an | | | | factors or result of shared family dietary preferences |
| average of 9 years between episodes. After 20 | | | | Geography |
| years, less than 10% remain stone free. An | | | | The peak season of kidney stone formation seems |
| unfortunate 10-15 % portion of patients will have | | | | to coincide with the summer months of June through |
| aggressive disease with the formation of 10+ stones | | | | August. This is not that hard to understand when |
| over their lifetime. | | | | one thinks about the role that water plays in keeping |
| Gender | | | | the body producing urine that is not concentrated |
| Men suffer from stone formation four times more | | | | and the increase activity one has during the summer. |
| often than women. Men may tend to produce more | | | | Here in the United States, the Southeast has the |
| stones because they eat more than women including | | | | highest incidence of stones. Increased temperature |
| diets that are not healthy and being larger, produce | | | | and body hydration may be key factors. The |
| more metabolic wastes than women. In the past few | | | | southern diet of green vegetables, brewed tea and |
| years, there has been a trend where the ratio is | | | | fatty foods may also be contributing factors. |