Originally published at: 1.76-pound, 5.26-inch kidney stone wins two world records | Boing Boing
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That poor guy, can’t imagine having carried something like that around for long enough for it to arrive at that weight.
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He’s from Sri Lanka, and the previous world records were India (size) and Pakistan (weight).
Is there something in the diet in South Asia that predisposes men to develop such onerous kidney stones?
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Maybe lack of easy access to healthcare? And given the pain levels I’ve seen in friends with smaller stones, maybe once they get bigger they hurt less.
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Common sense makes that unlikely, wouldn’t you say?
Think of the difference between a day-old zygote and a 38-week fetus. And that’s something that is supposed to be in that position.
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And here I am click-baited – wondering if the kidney stone was riding a unicycle while juggling or something. /s
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I don’t know about the subject of the article, but there are those, including me, who have kidney stones without significant pain! The first one I’m aware of was large enough to completely block the ureter (tube from kidney to bladder) causing the kidney to inflate and I never felt it. It was found as an incidental finding on an ultrasound.
The next one, which was just as bad, caused just moderate pain. I actually went to the ER because I couldn’t identify the source of the pain. The ER doc asked “could it be a kidney stone?” and I went, gee, I guess.
Keep in mind that almost any other person would have been in intense agony.
People say I’m lucky that I didn’t feel the pain. I disagree. If I’d felt the pain, they would have been found and treated faster and I’d still have a functioning right kidney!
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This too shall pa. . .
Maybe not.
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Interesting question. Someone in India actually researched this and described a “stone belt” in India where it is more prevalent. There’s also a world map with prevalence. India has the highest prevalence in the world other than North America, and in North America obviously due to better medical care, massive stones like this aren’t going to happen. There are dietary correlations too.
Edit: glad this poor guy got it out and is recovering.
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Oh, I forgot to respond to this part.
I don’t think we in the U.S. can assume people in other countries automatically have less access to healthcare. We are in no position to judge.
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smaller ones can be passed through urination, larger ones require surgery to be removed.
They don’t say if it was removed, but I think trying to piss that one out would have been a new level of pain.
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Good question. I know in the US some foraged leafy greens, like oxalis family (wood sorrel for example), have higher concentrations of the compounds that can cause kidney stones. I wonder if that might be some of it?
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Thank! Bog! that it was surgically removed. 
On June 1, the stone was identified and successfully removed in an open pyelolithotomy by the urological team at Army Hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
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the kidney stone also set a record in weight, tipping the scales at 1.76 lbs., approximately the weight of five baseballs!
F#ck you, metric system!
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