This treatment definitely qualifies as one of the more bizarre (or if you wish “wacky”) therapies we have encountered, but we assure you it has just been published in a medical journal. It won’t appeal to everyone, but some people who suffer from the recurrent horrifying pain of renal calculi will be thrilled to learn you have a better chance to pass a kidney stone after you ride a roller coaster.
What Is a Kidney Stone?
Kidney stones form in the kidneys when calcium and other minerals clump together. They eventually move into the bladder and then into the urethra, where they can cause excruciating pain as they pass through. We suspect that anyone who has ever had one would be extremely grateful to have a way to pass a kidney stone more readily.
A Doctor Really Listened to His Patient:
One patient reported to his doctor that a trip to Disney World and a ride on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster resulted in his passing three such stones.
The curious urologist was intrigued. This was not the first such patient report he’d heard, so he decided to investigate.
The Roller Coaster Study:
He built a model kidney that was configured like his patient’s organ. Then he filled it with urine and kidney stones and headed from Michigan to Orlando where he told the folks at Disney World just why he’d be riding the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster ride 20 times in a row.
We don’t know if Dr. Wartinger and his co-author Dr. Mitchell were suffering for science or if they are roller coaster enthusiasts. They didn’t include that in the report. But they do say that sitting in the last car of the roller coaster allowed the artificial kidney to pass a kidney stone 64 percent of the time. The doctors suggest that a roller coaster ride might be good preventive medicine for people prone to kidney stones.
