The Cure For Kidney Stones Might Be Rollercoasters

Anyone who's had them will tell you that passing kidney stones is painful, very painful.  And your options are pass them or have surgery, but a doctor might have stumbled on a new treatment.  Go ride a rollercoaster.

David Wartinger is a urological surgeon and professor emeritus at Michigan State University, and he noticed that  some of his patients were telling him they passed kidney stones during vacations to amusement parks.  He and a colleague headed to Disney World to ride some rollercoasters.  They came up with a way to simulate a kidney stone in a kidney and started riding Thunder Mountain, and it worked.

Dr. Wartinger told The Atlantic that after 60 rides the experimental kidneys passed almost 17% when riding in front of the car, and almost 64% of the time while the kidneys were in the back of the car.

There are still more tests and clinical trials to do, but until then it couldn’t hurt to head to an amusement park give it a try.