Scores of human race living in the southerly Indian state of Andhra Pradesh are being diagnosed with a chronic kidney disease , and yet researchershave no ideawhat is causing this suddenepidemic of casing . unremarkably , patient who are diagnosed with the disease either have diabetes or high blood pressure before the problem produce further , and yet these newfangled patients have no old report wellness consequence . recognise as continuing kidney disease of unidentified etiology ( CKDu ) , scientists are scrambling to figure out precisely what is going on .
CKDu is deadly because it is difficult to discover . With few other symptom , by the time patient are diagnose , especially in remote realm of developing country , the kidneys have been damaged beyond repair . This leads to high line pressure and an increment in a protein called creatinine in the roue – the trademark of early - stage kidney disease . Once diagnosed , the prognosis is not secure , as the irreversible disease finally means that patient role will be ineffectual to act upon and have to be placed on dialysis , something that is extremely debilitating for man from poor background who have families to support .
The strange matter about the disease is that this is n’t the first time these symptom have surfaced . In fact , for the past few years , thousands of men aged between 30 and 55 have been diagnosed with CKDuin Central America , in the main in Mexico , Guatemala , Nicaragua , and the Pacific Coast of El Salvador . It has been judge that an astonishing 20,000 men in Central America have died prematurely due to this nameless epidemic , a five - fold increase in 20 long time . What precisely has been causing it , however , has flummoxed researcher .
Interestingly , in Mesoamerica it seems to be predominantly involve those who work on sugar cane grove , while other agricultural worker – such as those in rice - growing regions of Sri Lanka – also seem to be dissemble . This is a pattern repeated in the young men being diagnose in India , who are also doing knockout manual toil out in the Sun . This has led to one theory that it might be associate to chronic desiccation .
In a study on sugar cane workers in Costa Rica , researchers found high levels of uric Elvis quartz in their urine , which build up as the day progressed . They recall that these crystals could then be damage the kidney , lead to the evolution of CKDu , which would explain the high prevalence among men working out in the fields all day .
But others disagree . Two radical of research worker have been looking at the levels of silica found in the water in Andhra Pradesh , with one group investigating whether or not it is naturally occurring and another looking at whether or not it is the result of excessive pesticide use . The latter is one ofthe go theoriesto the late increment in preponderance of CKDu in the agriculture communities of Sri Lanka , where so many cases have now been diagnosed that it has become a public health crisis . In Sri Lanka , it is argued that the chemicals sprayed on the bailiwick are the lawsuit of kidney disease in the field workers .
What is clear-cut , however , is that the researchers studying these epidemic in different corners of the Earth take to start cooperate . If they can find a link between cases account in Sri Lanka , India , and Central America , it could give them a critical trail to follow . But equally , there is also the possible action that what we are looking at are separate illnesses that have similar outcomes .