With an increase in daily temperatures comes patients in need of treatment for kidney stones. According to a new study, conducted by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, or CHOP, climate change could impact human health, as researchers discovered a connection between hotter days and kidney stones among U.S. children and adults.

Gregory E. Tasian, MD, MSc, MSCE, the study’s leader and a pediatric urologist and epidemiologist at CHOP, said in a statement, “We found that as daily temperatures rise, there is a rapid increase in the probability of patients presenting over the next 20 days with kidney stones.”

The study results were published on July 11 in Environmental Health Perspectives. The study was sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Researchers analyzed medical records for more than 60,000 adults and children from Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia who had kidney stones between 2005 and 2011. In addition to the medical records, they also noted weather data during that time.

According to the researchers, as temperatures rose above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, risk for kidney stones increased in every city except for Los Angeles. The connection between kidney stones and high temperatures peaked after just three days of exposure to the increased heat.

Tasian said, “These findings point to potential public health effects associated with global climate change.” He continued, “…although 11 percent of the U.S. population has had kidney stones, most people have not. It is likely that higher temperatures increase the risk of kidney stones in those people predisposed to stone formation.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, kidney stones are small, hard deposits, or stones, made of mineral and acid salts, that form inside the kidneys. Stones tend to form when urine is concentrated, enabling minerals to crystallize and bind together.