A Roller Coaster To Remove Kidney Stones
When we try to imagine what the most intense pain is, the most common thing is to think about childbirth. However, women who have experienced the sensation of having kidney stones say that suffering from this ailment is comparable to bringing a child into the world.
Therefore, patients affected by kidney stones are forced to consume very strong painkillers. In fact, it is common for them to go to the nearest medical center, in search of an injectable or intravenous solution. Only then do they find relief in a crisis.
How kidney stones arise
Kidney stones arise when minerals are not properly digested. As a result, the minerals crystallize, to form so-called stones.
These cause very severe discomfort, even if they are very small. When size allows, they can be expelled in the urine. However, if the stone is too large, surgery will be required.
What patients with this complication most want is to remove the stones in the kidney without going into the operating room. The same is true of doctors.
Although general anesthesia is no longer used for this intervention, epidurals are used. For this reason, scientists are striving to find procedures that favor expulsion through urine. This is how a group of American urologists came up with a fun and surprising solution.
Ride a roller coaster to remove kidney stones
The research group, led by Dr. David Watinger of the University of Michigan, has published an impressive study in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.
According to their research, the process of removing stones smaller than 5 mm is expedited when we ride certain roller coasters. This statement is so strange that it is inevitable to wonder how he came up with the idea. The truth is that it was his patients who informed him of the curious phenomenon.
Several people came to Dr. Watinger’s office to tell him how they had managed to eliminate the stones in the kidney, right after enjoying these attractions.
Specifically, these pointed to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster, located at Disney World. It crosses a haunted mining town at 56 km / h. Thus, it is striking that it is not a higher speed. Also, passengers always go face up, would they be right or was it pure coincidence?
A 3D print confirms the suspicions
The study was conducted with a kidney-shaped silicone 3D print, in which they introduced three kidney stones. After this, they set off to go to Orlando, in search of the roller coaster.
However, they carried several stones in their backpack to repeat the process with various attractions and on several occasions. As Dr. Watinger explains, they used 174 different stones.
The astonishment came when they realized that their patients had not been wrong. It worked, and it was only possible to remove kidney stones on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
As if this wasn’t curious enough, they found that success varied depending on the seat they occupied. Thus, it worked better in the last car than in any other.
What does this finding mean
A priori, the finding does not seem very practical. It is very difficult for a person to travel to Orlando for this purpose. Similarly, the solution of placing a roller coaster identical to the one in the park in a hospital complex is also unfeasible.
However, it constitutes a step forward, since what is possible is to study why it happens in this way. As soon as it is discovered, we will be in a position to design therapeutic strategies that free us from surgery, as everyone wishes.
On the other hand, this shows that it is very important for doctors to listen to their patients. Many doctors ignore them and only pay attention to the data of the diagnostic tests and ignore the assessments of the patients.
However, no one knows better than they how they feel, when they improve and when they do not. Thus, such information can be vital to indicate their treatment, as well as to search for new ways that otherwise would never be around their heads.
