Researchers at Michigan State have termed roller coasters as a probable treatment for helping patients pass kidney stones faster.

They formulated their study published in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association after the anecdotal evidence of a patient who claims to have had passed a stone after each of three consecutive rides on Disney World's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster in Florida.

Wartinger and Marc Mitchell, lead authors of the study tested out the phenomena by themselves. They created a 3D anatomical model of a kidney with real urine and three kidney stones of sizes small (4.5 cubic millimeters), medium (13.5 cubic mm) and large (64.6 cubic mm).

They placed the different kidney stones in different parts of the model while riding it on the roller coaster 20 times. Though the seat assignment could not be controlled and depended on their place in the waiting line, it turned out to be an important factor while passing the stones.

It was found that regardless of their size or location in the kidney, while kidney stones would pass 17% of the time while sitting in the front of the ride, sitting in the rear led to passing of the stones 64% of the time. The vibrations and sharp tones of the car are speculated to be the reason that drove the kidney stones out from the urinary tract.

Despite the results, the researchers do caution that it may not work for everyone since everyone will experience different combinations of twists, turns, and bumps. Wartinger said, “So I suspect that there are roller coasters that are more advantageous for one person versus another”.