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  • #16
    Re: As kidney disease kills thousands across continents, scientists scramble for answers

    Go and read this whole article, extracts below. For referenced research paper, see March 18th post above. - Ro



    Sri Lanka: Stop Hoodwinking The Public Over Kidney Disease
    February 10, 2014 | Filed under: Colombo Telegraph,Opinion | Posted by: COLOMBO_TELEGRAPH


    By Amarasiri de Silva -
    ...
    In 2011, the prevalence of CKDu in the affected districts in Sri Lanka was about 2?3% of the population aged over 18(Chandrajith et al 2011). This had increased to 15.3% in 2012 when the WHO conducted its study in the three districts of Badulla, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura. This would suggest that, taking Anuradhapura alone with a total population of 856,232 (Census and Statistics 2011), the CKDu positive population has increased from around 20,000 in 2011 to over 130,000 in 2012 a more than sixfold increase over one year. If the incidence of the disease as determined by eminent scientists is accepted, then this not only points to an astonishing increase in the CKDu patient population in the affected districts over one year, but also suggests a phenomenon which can be regarded as a disaster; particularly so when the scientists convincingly show that the disease is spreading into other districts as well and the death toll due to the disease surpasses that in the recent secessionist war. In a recent study Bandarage (2013) states that ?Between 1990 and 2007, hospital admissions due to all diseases of the genitourinary system in Sri Lanka doubled with hospital deaths due to such diseases rising from 2.6 to 9.1 per 100,000 people?. So far, in Anuradhapura, informal statistics suggest that the total number of confirmed CKDu patients is around 20,000. Dr. Weeraratne?s feature in Island (6 January, 2014) shows that the number of CKDu patients registered at MOH offices in CKDu endemic areas could be as high as 25,000. This indicates that there is a large hidden population with CKDu. The annual figure of deaths recorded due to CKDu is as high as 1,400 in the country (Athureliya et al 2009). Close to 5% of the country?s annual health budget is spent on the disease management of CKDu patients.
    ...
    The time is now ripe for the development of a well-coordinated programme to contain the disease by changing people?s behaviour, agricultural practices, Government policies, and the use of fertilizer and pesticides. So far there is no sign that the Ministry of Health has even thought about any such programme. It is important that the development of such a programme should seek to incorporate public opinion as well as seeking the views of scientists. It is quite clear that any such programme should entail a three-pronged approach. First is the curative and rehabilitative elements: the curative programme should be run by the doctors in clinics and hospitals targeted at CKDu patients; and psychologists, social workers, counsellors and community organizations should play a key role in rehabilitation. The second prong is a preventative programme. Unlike in many other diseases, people?s behaviour plays a significant role in the genesis of CKDu. Changing behaviour requires changes in attitudes, knowledge and value orientation, which is again an activity for the doctors and paramedics as the patients? first point of contact, while health educators, social scientists, social workers, community-level officers at the DS offices and community organizations have a big role to play in educating non-patients in the districts. The programmes can be organized and monitored through the DS offices and MOH offices in the area. The third prong is the research component: both biomedical and social science research are needed to monitor the outcomes of the disease and to pinpoint its pathogenesis. It is also important to examine how the emissions of heavy metals are regulated in waste incinerators, another possible source of contamination. Perhaps universities, the NSF and similar institutions can orchestrate the research as it is important to analyze the trajectory of the disease, and explore its social, economic and political implications.
    ...
    In 2011, however, the Registrar of Pesticides banned a few chemicals that were identified as causing CKDu, but after some time, the ban was lifted on the basis that the banned chemicals did not have any proven effect on the disease. In April 2013, four chemicals were banned again, following a public outcry and intensive lobbying, but so far no regulatory mechanism has been established to implement the ministerial order to ban the use and sale of pesticides. My understanding is that the Registrar of Pesticides has not been given powers to take action in cases where the pesticide regulations are violated. It is not clear what the Government is going to do with those fertilizers containing disease causing agents, which are already in circulation. Giving priority to self-sufficiency in rice over a solution to CKDu, the Government has increased the supply of fertilizer at a concessionary price to farmers. The recent budget speech says: ?The farmers on their own suggested the need to reduce the usage of chemical fertilizer and pesticides to reduce their harmful effects on food, water quality, health, animals and the soil. Since such a shift would take some time, I propose to continue with the fertilizer subsidy scheme to provide all varieties of fertilizer at Rs. 350/per 50 kg bag for paddy cultivation during both the Yala and Maha seasons. A subsidized price of Rs. 1,250 per 50/kg bag will also be continued for all other crops? (8.2- Budget speech 2013).
    ...
    *Amarasiri de Silva, PhD (formerly Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Peradeniya)
    Twitter: @RonanKelly13
    The views expressed are mine alone and do not represent the views of my employer or any other person or organization.

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: As kidney disease kills thousands across continents, scientists scramble for answers

      Mystery Mesoamerican Nephropathy Tropical Disease Killing Young Men in Central America
      Posted by: Charles Moore January 24, 2014

      Mesoamerican nephropathy

      Tropical Medicine expert Dr. Peter Hotez and colleagues from Baylor College of Medicine at Houston are sounding the alarm about a new hidden killer disease that disproportionately strikes young male Central American agricultural workers ? primarily in the Pacific coastal regions of El Salvador and Nicaragua, but also in Guatemala and Costa Rica.
      The recently named Mesoamerican nephropathy appears to be an emerging form of chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology. According to Correa-Rotter et al. the syndrome was first described in 2002 as a form of advanced chronic kidney disease at the Rosales Hospital, a referral hospital in the capital of El Salvador. The disease develops without the usual chronic risk factors such as diabetes and hypertension. Among its most common features, Mesoamerican nephropathy typically presents as a progressive tubulointerstitial form of renal disease and failure with no or low grade proteinuria. Histopathology findings from renal biopsies are unique ? different from other causes of renal disease. It most commonly affects young men working in sugarcane plantations along the lowland Pacific Coast of Central America. Because this part of Central America is a resource-poor region, those affected often die prematurely due to inadequate access to renal dialysis.
      A paper epublished ahead of print in the National Kidney Foundation?s American Journal of Kidney Disease, entitled: ?CKD of Unknown Origin in Central America: The Case for a Mesoamerican Nephropathy? (Am J Kidney Dis. 2014 Jan 9. pii: S0272-6386(13)01568-0. doi: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2013.10.062), co-authored by R. Correa-Rotter of the Department of Nephrology and Mineral Metabolism, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias M?dicas y Nutrici?n Salvador Zubir?n, Mexico City, Mexico, C . Wesseling of Program on Work, Environment and Health in Central America (SALTRA), Central American Institute for Studies on Toxic Substances (IRET), Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica and R.J. Johnson of Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado, notes that Mesoamerican nephropathy victimstypically have a history of manual labor under very hot conditions in agricultural fields, and that clinically, they usually present with normal or mildly elevated systemic blood pressure, asymptomatic yet progressive reduction in estimated glomerular filtration rate, low-grade non-nephrotic proteinuria, and often hyperuricemia and or hypokalemia.
      ...
      Twitter: @RonanKelly13
      The views expressed are mine alone and do not represent the views of my employer or any other person or organization.

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: As kidney disease kills thousands across continents, scientists scramble for answers

        Mystery kidney disease spreads in Sri Lanka


        Farmers, mostly over 40, continue dying from a kidney disease of unknown origins
        ANURADHAPURA/ COLOMBO, 6 March 2014 (IRIN) - Increasing incidence of a chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology (CKDu) is quickly turning into Sri Lanka’s latest health crisis, with hospitals in the country’s most affected province linking 80 percent of patients’ deaths to renal failure. The disease some refer to as an “unknown plague” has triggered internal migration, particularly among youths living in disease-prone areas.

        Scientists have failed to identify a cause, thwarting efforts to prevent the disease which leads to renal failure, and at worst, death.

        Based on hospital records, men over 40 seem to be most at-risk, which has pushed many households in the island’s north-central region (the most affected nationwide) to encourage young men to migrate.
        Manamendra Padmasena,* 48, a farmer from the capital of North Central Province (NCP), Anuradhapura, has undergone treatment for CKDu for the past six years. He takes 48 tablets a day, in three doses and requires constant hospitalization year-round. His wife has also been diagnosed with the disease.
        ...
        Twitter: @RonanKelly13
        The views expressed are mine alone and do not represent the views of my employer or any other person or organization.

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: As kidney disease kills thousands across continents, scientists scramble for answers

          h/t Emily

          Sri Lanka bans Monsanto herbicide citing potential link to deadly kidney disease
          By Sasha Chavkin 16 hours, 28 minutes ago Updated: 16 hours, 28 minutes ago

          Concerned the chemical may be linked to a kidney disease killing agricultural workers, Sri Lanka this week ordered a ban on glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto?s top-selling herbicide Roundup.

          The move comes weeks after publication of a new study in Sri Lanka suggesting glyphosate as the leading culprit for the illness. The paper did not provide new scientific evidence, but laid out a detailed theory that the use of glyphosate in areas with heavy metals in the drinking water is causing the chronic kidney disease. Roundup is the top selling herbicide in the world, and Monsanto said the newest study is built upon untested theory rather than hard data.

          ?Glyphosate acts as a carrier or a vector of these heavy metals to the kidney,? said Dr. Channa Jayasumana, the study?s principal author.
          ...
          Concerned the chemical may be linked to a kidney disease killing agricultural workers, Sri Lanka this week ordered a ban on glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s top-selling herbicide Roundup. The move comes weeks after publication of a new study in Sri Lanka suggesting glyphosate as the leading culprit for the illness. The paper did […]
          Twitter: @RonanKelly13
          The views expressed are mine alone and do not represent the views of my employer or any other person or organization.

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          • #20
            Re: As kidney disease kills thousands across continents, scientists scramble for answers

            Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/09/wo...s.html?hp&_r=0


            Deadly Illness in Nicaragua Baffles Experts
            By HEATHER MURPHYMAY 8, 2014

            CHICHIGALPA, Nicaragua ? During the harvest season, when exhausted workers spend seven days a week cutting sugar cane, the signs of illness were hard to spot at first.

            It was in the off-season, out on the baseball field, that some residents noticed a change. Base-stealers were lethargic. Pitchers were losing their aim. In the evening, outfielders were burning up as if standing under the scorching sun of the day.

            ?That?s Mosquito, now dead,? said Arnulfo T?llez Aguilera, 49, pointing to a photograph of his smiling teammates before their muscles withered, like his. ?That?s my brother, Danilo, dead too.?

            Across Central America, a painful disease that affects the kidneys has killed at least 20,000 people over the past decade and has become the leading cause of deaths in hospitals among men in El Salvador. But the illness, often called Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown causes, or CKDu, is so poorly understood that it still does not have a universally agreed upon name...

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            • #21
              Re: As kidney disease kills thousands across continents, scientists scramble for answers

              Contributing the latest studies behind this epidemic, MEDICC Review journal published "Chronic Kidney Disease Hits Agricultural Communities". www.medicc.org/mediccreview MEDICC Review is the first peer-reviewed journal to devote an entire issue to this epidemic. An emerging type of CKD of uncertain etiology (CKDu), not attributable to risk factors such as diabetes or hypertension, is devastating poor rural communities. It has particularly targeted young men who work in the fields in countries such as El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Egypt and India.

              Authors from seven countries (Sri Lanka, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Cuba, Italy, Mexico, and the USA) examine the epidemic: including El Salvador?s Minister of Health and the president of the International Society of Nephrology. All articles are open access, free online. www.medicc.org/mediccreview

              Also, the New York Times published a feature story on CKDu yesterday.

              Deadly Illness in Nicaragua Baffles Experts
              The New York Times, Heather Murphy (May 8, 2014)


              ...."Across Central America, a painful disease that affects the kidneys has killed at least 20,000 people over the past decade and has become the leading cause of deaths in hospitals among men in El Salvador. But the illness, often called Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown causes, or CKDu, is so poorly understood that it still does not have a universally agreed upon name."

              MEDICC Review is pleased to be the first link in the online version of the New York Times piece (universally agreed upon name) and to contribute to the science behind finding the causes.

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: As kidney disease kills thousands across continents, scientists scramble for answers

                Welcome to FluTrackers, Jeannie Barbieri-Low. Thank you for providing the links.
                Twitter: @RonanKelly13
                The views expressed are mine alone and do not represent the views of my employer or any other person or organization.

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: As kidney disease kills thousands across continents, scientists scramble for answers

                  Welcome Jeannie Barbieri-Low.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: As kidney disease kills thousands across continents, scientists scramble for answers

                    Pesticide linked to three generations of disease (adult onset kidney disease, ovarian disease and obesity)
                    _____________________________________________

                    Ask Congress to Investigate COVID Origins and Government Response to Pandemic.

                    i love myself. the quietest. simplest. most powerful. revolution ever. ---- nayyirah waheed

                    "...there’s an obvious contest that’s happening between different sectors of the colonial ruling class in this country. And they would, if they could, lump us into their beef, their struggle." ---- Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Socialist Party

                    (My posts are not intended as advice or professional assessments of any kind.)
                    Never forget Excalibur.

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Mysterious disease may be tied to climate change, researcher says
                      The kidney ailment has killed 20,000 since 2002

                      David Kelly
                      University Communications
                      October 8, 2015

                      AURORA, Colo. ? A mysterious kidney disease that has killed over 20,000 people in Central America, most of them sugar cane workers, may be caused by chronic, severe dehydration linked to global climate change, according to a new study by Richard J. Johnson, MD, of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

                      ?This could be the first epidemic directly caused by global warming,? said Johnson, professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a world-renowned expert on the underlying causes of obesity, kidney disease, diabetes and hypertension. ?Some districts of Nicaragua have been called the `land of widows? due to the high mortality rates occurring among the male workers from chronic kidney disease.?

                      The epidemic was first described in 2002 and has been dubbed Mesoamerican Nephropathy. It?s most prevalent among manual laborers on sugar cane plantations in the hotter, lower altitudes of Central America?s Pacific coast. The disease has also been reported among farmworkers, miners, fishermen and construction and transportation workers in the region.

                      Theories abound about what may be causing it, including exposure to heavy metals, pesticides and other toxic chemicals. But Johnson believes the actual culprit is chronic recurrent dehydration.
                      ...

                      ...
                      Twitter: @RonanKelly13
                      The views expressed are mine alone and do not represent the views of my employer or any other person or organization.

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945589/
                        Jayasumana C, Gunatilake S, Senanayake P. Glyphosate, Hard Water and Nephrotoxic Metals: Are They the Culprits Behind the Epidemic of Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology in Sri Lanka? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2014;11(2):2125-2147. doi:10.3390/ijerph110202125. Abstract

                        The current chronic kidney disease epidemic, the major health issue in the rice paddy farming areas in Sri Lanka has been the subject of many scientific and political debates over the last decade. Although there is no agreement among scientists about the etiology of the disease, a majority of them has concluded that this is a toxic nephropathy. None of the hypotheses put forward so far could explain coherently the totality of clinical, biochemical, histopathological findings, and the unique geographical distribution of the disease and its appearance in the mid-1990s. A strong association between the consumption of hard water and the occurrence of this special kidney disease has been observed, but the relationship has not been explained consistently. Here, we have hypothesized the association of using glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the disease endemic area and its unique metal chelating properties. The possible role played by glyphosate-metal complexes in this epidemic has not been given any serious consideration by investigators for the last two decades. Furthermore, it may explain similar kidney disease epidemics observed in Andra Pradesh (India) and Central America. Although glyphosate alone does not cause an epidemic of chronic kidney disease, it seems to have acquired the ability to destroy the renal tissues of thousands of farmers when it forms complexes with a localized geo environmental factor (hardness) and nephrotoxic metals.

                        ...

                        2. Compound X

                        If we assume that the ?Compound X? is derived from the agrochemicals and is easily bound to Ca/Mg/Sr/Fe to ultimately cause damage to the kidneys, then this hypothesis can explain the geographical distribution of CKDu as well as the occurrence of the disease only after the 1990s. Political changes instituted in 1977 in Sri Lanka, have lead to economic policies that allowed the importation and application of agrochemicals on a large scale, especially for paddy farming. The low concentration of a cumulative nephrotoxin and its bioaccumulation could have taken 12?15 years to cause damage to the kidneys leading up to the level of clinically identifiable CKD. The increase in prevalence of CKDu and the shifting of age at diagnosis to younger age groups over the years are highly suggestive of the cumulative nature of the toxin. Furthermore, a comparatively low amount of agrochemicals has been used in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, primarily due to a prohibition imposed by the government in this province. The prohibition was due to the potential of these agrochemicals being used in the production of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). These IEDs were used abundantly by armed groups of the terrorist movement that plagued the country until 2009 for causing mass destruction. This is the explanation for the fact that CKDu is still not prevalent in the farming areas of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka where the ground water hardness has remained high. Based upon these observations, here we summarizes the expected properties of the chemical Compound ?X? that is hypothesized as the incriminating agent of CKDu.
                        • (a)
                          A compound made of recently (2?3 decades) introduced chemicals to the CKDu endemic area.
                        • (b)
                          Ability to form stable complexes with hard water.
                        • (c)
                          Ability to capture and retain arsenic and nephrotoxic metals and act as a ?carrier? in delivering these toxins to the kidney.
                        • (d)
                          Possible multiple routes of exposure: ingestion, dermal and respiratory absorption.
                        • (e)
                          Not having a significant first pass effect when complexed with hard water.
                        • (f)
                          Presenting difficulties in identification when using conventional analytical methods.

                        The present authors have continuously searched for a possibility of Compound X over the time period of interest and noticed that aminophosphonic acid or aminophosphonate (known by the common chemical name glyphosate) is the most widely used herbicide in the contemporary world [17] as well as in Sri Lanka. The amount of glyphosate exceeded the sum of all other pesticides imported into Sri Lanka in 2012 (Table 1) [18]. The former Stauffer Chemical Company (Westport, CT, USA) initially obtained a patent for aminophosphonic acid as a chelating agent, wetting agent and biologically active compound [19]. Glyphosate was initially used as a descaling agent to clean out calcium and other mineral deposits in pipes and boilers of residential and commercial hot water systems. Descaling agents are effective metal binders, which grab on to Ca, Mg, etc. ions and make the metal water soluble and easily removable. Later, the Monsanto Company has acquired the chemical from Stauffer and obtained a patent for aminophosphonate for its herbicidal properties [20].

                        ...

                        3. CKDu Elsewhere

                        A CKDu epidemic very similar to that of Sri Lanka has been identified among the paddy farmers in Andra Pradesh?a southeastern province of India [94]. These authors reported that ground water is the only available water source in Uddanam and Chikamurthy, two of the areas with the highest CKDu prevalence. Analysis of samples of drinking water revealed that metal ions and trace elements in drinking water were within allowable limits, and thus not expected to lead to any deleterious effects on human health. However, in these findings it was clearly shown that the total hardness, Ca, Mg and Sr values are quite high. Especially in Chikamurthy area, some of the drinking water samples exceed 1,000 mg/L of total hardness. The authors may not have paid enough attention to this finding as hardness is not identified as a nephrotoxin or as causing significant human health problems, apart from being a suggested risk factor for exacerbation of eczema [13]
                        ...

                        ...Glyphosate is the leading pesticide used in El Salvador as well [103]. If we apply the same hypothesis to explain the CKDu in CA it can logically explain the occurrence of disease among male farm workers in pacific coastal line. The CA Pacific coastal line belongs to the volcanic belt [104,105]. In this region soil and groundwater naturally contain high amounts of metals and As [106]....


                        _____________________________________________

                        Ask Congress to Investigate COVID Origins and Government Response to Pandemic.

                        i love myself. the quietest. simplest. most powerful. revolution ever. ---- nayyirah waheed

                        "...there’s an obvious contest that’s happening between different sectors of the colonial ruling class in this country. And they would, if they could, lump us into their beef, their struggle." ---- Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Socialist Party

                        (My posts are not intended as advice or professional assessments of any kind.)
                        Never forget Excalibur.

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          A deadly kidney disease is ravaging the rice-growing regions of Sri Lanka. Are synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to blame?

                          The Killing Fields

                          By Brian Barth on July 31, 2017
                          Photographs by Ed Kashi

                          ...

                          Many of the Sri Lankan farmers Kashi spoke to suspected that the illness stems from contaminated drinking water. Arsenic, cadmium, and other heavy metals found in synthetic fertilizers and pesticides frequently surface in the country?s groundwater. Channa Jayasumana, Ph.D., a medical toxicologist at Sri Lanka?s Rajarata University, believes there?s no single smoking gun, but rather a confluence of factors at play, among them: malnutrition, chronic dehydration, a prevalence of infectious diseases like leptospirosis, and the interaction between groundwater supplies and agricultural chemicals. Specifically, his research focuses on whether those chemicals and heavy metals, along with the water?s naturally occurring calcium and magnesium, are forming new, more acutely toxic compounds. Jayasumana notes that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto?s Roundup, was originally patented in part as a chelating agent?a substance that readily binds with metals?and may act as a vector, carrying heavy metals to the kidneys. Though Monsanto vigorously denies Jayasumana?s claims, he counters that the corporation tests its products in temperate Western countries. ?Our research shows that pesticides behave differently depending on climate, soil type, and groundwater conditions. It is the duty of Monsanto to show that these chemicals are not toxic in other parts of the world,? says the doctor.
                          Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan government isn?t taking any chances. President Maithripala Sirisena instituted a national ban on glyphosate upon taking office in 2015. Pesticides containing propanil, carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, or carbofuran had already been outlawed in 2014. Yet farmers continue to purchase the prohibited products at inflated black-market prices.
                          _____________________________________________

                          Ask Congress to Investigate COVID Origins and Government Response to Pandemic.

                          i love myself. the quietest. simplest. most powerful. revolution ever. ---- nayyirah waheed

                          "...there’s an obvious contest that’s happening between different sectors of the colonial ruling class in this country. And they would, if they could, lump us into their beef, their struggle." ---- Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Socialist Party

                          (My posts are not intended as advice or professional assessments of any kind.)
                          Never forget Excalibur.

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            The ?silent massacre? killing El Salvador?s sugarcane workers
                            Feb 28, 2018 6:20 pm EST


                            A mysterious, chronic kidney disease is wreaking havoc on farm workers in Central America, particularly those who harvest sugar. Despite the risks, Salvadoran cane cutters continue the grueling work, pushed by economic troubles. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on how some are trying to improve work conditions in El Salvador.
                            ...
                            Dr. Ramon Garcia is a kidney specialist in El Salvador?s capital, San Salvador.

                            Dr. Ramon Garcia:

                            Seven to eight deaths every day in this small country is 10, 12 times more than the expected death rate. This is a silent massacre.
                            ...
                            Initially, pesticides were considered a likely culprit, but there was no explanation why these chemicals didn?t have a similar impact in other places they are sprayed, including the United States.

                            Dr. Garcia says one thing they believe may be a contributing factor is the severe dehydration of the workers, which prevents the kidneys from functioning fully.

                            Dr. Ramon Garcia:

                            It?s too hot, simply too hot. You cannot drink enough water at the same pace that you are losing it in sweat. It?s impossible. We?re not sure if this is the real cause, the only cause, or there?s a mix of many causes that, put together, are producing the disease.
                            ...
                            A mysterious, chronic kidney disease is wreaking havoc on farm workers in Central America, particularly those who harvest sugar. Despite the risks, Salvadoran cane cutters continue the grueling work, pushed by economic troubles. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on how some are trying to improve work conditions in El Salvador.
                            Twitter: @RonanKelly13
                            The views expressed are mine alone and do not represent the views of my employer or any other person or organization.

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...1113095156.htm

                              An epidemic outbreak of Mesoamerican Nephropathy in Nicaragua linked to nickel toxicity
                              Date:
                              November 13, 2020
                              Source:
                              Baylor College of Medicine
                              Summary:
                              For over 20 years, researchers have tried to solve the medical mystery behind Mesoamerican Nephropathy, a form of chronic kidney disease that has caused more than 50,000 deaths in coastal South America. Now, researchers present the strongest evidence to date on the cause of the disease in one of the worst-hit hotspots in the region, Nicaragua, using an unlikely source, the toenails of individuals with the disease.

                              For more than 20 years, an epidemic of chronic kidney disease (CKD) of unknown origin has severely affected specific coastal communities along South America's Pacific coastline from Mexico to Panama leading to more than 50,000 deaths. The condition, known as Mesoamerican Nephropathy (MeN), has a perplexing clinical presentation. Unlike traditional forms of CKD, it affects healthy young working-age individuals who do not have other traditional risk factors for kidney disease, such as diabetes or hypertension. The underlying cause of this devastating public health crisis has remained a mystery.

                              A "CSI-style" scientific investigation led by Dr. Kristy Murray, professor of pediatrics, immunology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, revealed evidence for nickel toxicity as the underlying cause of this disease in a Nicaraguan "hotspot," which is among the worst-hit areas in the continent. The study provides new, compelling evidence that low-dose exposure to nickel can cause systemic inflammation, anemia and kidney injury -- hallmarks of acute MeN that progresses to chronic kidney disease in around 90% of the patients. The study appeared in PLoS ONE this week....

                              ...Journal Reference:
                              • Rebecca S. B. Fischer, Jason M. Unrine, Chandan Vangala, Wayne T. Sanderson, Sreedhar Mandayam, Kristy O. Murray. Evidence of nickel and other trace elements and their relationship to clinical findings in acute Mesoamerican Nephropathy: A case-control analysis. PLOS ONE, 2020; 15 (11): e0240988 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240988

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