Kidney stones in children could lead to cardio problems
Posted on: 23/Sep/2015 11:02:17 AM
Researchers claim that kidney stones in children are not an isolated medical problem. They said that there is a clear link between kidney stones in children and thickened or hardened arteries — precursors to a wide variety of cardiovascular diseases.
Kidney stones in kids are increasingly common, and until recently they were believed to be an isolated medical problem. Research has established a connection between kidney stones and atherosclerosis in adults, but this study, conducted by clinician-scientists at Nationwide Children`s Hospital, is the first to identify a significant association between the two health concerns in children.
Kirsten Kusumi, nephrology fellow at Ohio-based Nationwide Children’`s Hospital explained, If the processes of kidney stone formation and hardening of the arteries are somehow linked in adults, it makes sense that a similar link may exist in children, despite the fact that people don`t associate heart and vascular diseases with kids.
The study used ultrasound exams to evaluate and compare the thickness of key arteries for 15 children with kidney stones and 15 children without them. None of the participants were diagnosed with conditions known to cause atherosclerosis, so that any damage to the arteries could reasonably be associated with children`s kidney stones.
The researchers detected a significant increase in the thickness of the right carotid artery and average artery thickness — potential risk factors for cardiovascular complications or disease — in children with a recent kidney stone.
The researchers have not yet defined the exact mechanism that connects kidney stones to vascular hardening, but they hypothesize that inflammation may play an important role. The team screened the urine of participants for different biomarkers. In the urine of children with arterial abnormalities, key inflammatory markers appeared at higher levels.
Dr. Kusumi and Dr. Schwaderer are already studying the potential shared mechanisms for kidney stones and vascular health problems in animals. They are also expanding their studies of urine biomarkers to obtain new clues about the subtypes of kidney stones and potential molecular processes at play in both conditions.
