Global warming is not only affecting agricultural crop yields and workplace productivity, but also potentially accelerating rates of chronic kidney disease worldwide.
Dehydration from rising temperatures and heat stress do a good job of harming the kidney, warned researchers. The so-called heat stress nephropathy may strike not just in neglected population and serve as a primary cause of poor kidney health as climate change hammers countries worldwide.
Other diseases with increasing risks are malnutrition, cognitive dysfunction, and water-borne infections.
"We were able to connect increased rates of chronic kidney disease in different areas to an underlying mechanism – heat stress and dehydration – and to climate," said lead researcher Dr. Richard Johnson from University of Colorado, dubbing the condition as among the first epidemics brought by global warming.
Heat stress nephropathy is not linked with traditional risk factors, and appears to be on the rise in rural communities suffering high heat. The risk is greatest among vulnerable groups such as agricultural workers, who are exposed to the heat for longer periods of time.
Reduced precipitation worsens this epidemic of chronic illness through decreasing the water supply and quality as temperatures soar, added the researchers.
Once temperatures exceed the human body’s 37 degrees Celsius, one would require expelling heat through sweat evaporation. If there is high humidity or dress codes that get in the way, it would be necessary to reduce the body’s movement and work rate in order to prevent dehydration and heat stroke.
The team recommended scientists and governments to coordinate and conduct studies to document the prevalence of this kidney disease. Workplace conditions should also be improved and hydration properly ensured to be sufficient, they urged.
The findings were published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
A separate study last April discovered that common medications used for treating heartburn, stomach ulcers, and acid reflux may up one’s kidney failure risk.
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), a class of drugs reducing the amount of gastric acid created and are a common treatment for gastric disorders, are taken by about 15 million Americans today. The figures could easily be higher when one accounts for drugs that can be bought over the counter or without a prescription necessary.
Photo: Egor Grebnev | Flickr
