Suffering with a kidney stone? You may want to book a trip to a theme park.
Michigan State University researchers have discovered that riding a certain type of roller coaster can help increase your chances of passing a kidney stone.
The MSU study found that riding in the back of a roller coaster that's "rough and quick with some twists and turns" helps patients pass a kidney stone nearly 70 percent of the time.
A pilot test was conducted in Walt Disney World followed by an expanded study. In the larger study, researchers wore multiple kidney models with inserted stones and hopped on Big Thunder Mountain.
"In all, we used 174 kidney stones of varying shapes, sizes and weights to see if each model worked on the same ride and on two other roller coasters,” David Wartinger, a professor emeritus in the Department of Osteopathic Surgical Specialties, stated in a news release. “Big Thunder Mountain was the only one that worked. We tried Space Mountain and Aerosmith’s Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and both failed.”
Rides that are too violent reportedly pin the stone in place.
According to MSU, Wartinger also found that there was a 100 percent passage rate with the Big Thunder Mountain trials if the stones were in the kidney's upper chamber.
MSU notes the idea for the study came after patients shared their own results with Wartinger after a trip to Florida.
“I even had one patient say he passed three different stones after riding multiple times,” stated Wartinger.
