Air
pollution causes millions of CKD cases globally each year
The
estimated global burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) attributable to air
pollution (fine particulate matter (PM) less than 2.5 µm) is significant, amounting
to more than 10.7 million cases per year.
The
researchers used the Global Burden of Disease study methodologies to estimate
the burden of CKD attributable to air pollution. Epidemiologic measures of the
burden of CKD attributable to air pollution included years living with
disability (YLD, meaning years living with kidney disease), years of life lost
(YLL, meaning early death attributable to kidney disease), and
disability-adjusted life years (DALY, a measure that combines the burden of
living with the disease and the early death caused by the disease).
·
The global annual burden of incident CKD
attributable to high PM2.5 levels was 10,784,514 (95% Uncertainty Interval:
7,821,109-13,857,623).
·
YLD, YLL, and DALYs of CKD attributable to high
PM2.5 were 2,185,317 (1,418,442-
·
3,061,477), 7,897,941 (5,471,081-10,514,433),
and 10,083,258 (7,064,399-13,323,685), respectively.
The
study also found that burden of disease varies greatly by geography. India,
along with Nigeria, Bangladesh and Pakistan had the high attributable burden of
disease, exceeding 200 incident cases of CKD per 100,000 population.
India
was also amongst the countries that reported highest DALYs that included Mexico,
Central America, Southeast Asia and Northern Africa. DALYs per 100,000 were
366.71 (251.05, 498.01) in Nicaragua and 353.93 (260.05-449.24) in Mexico,
compared to 44.59 (24.07-65.74) in the United States.
These
findings were presented at the recently concluded ASN Kidney Week 2017 in New
Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
Keeping
BP, cholesterol, body weight, blood sugar within healthy limits, avoiding overuse
of OTC painkillers, smoking, eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly are
some of the ways to protect kidney health.
Air
pollution has become a major threat to society today. Air pollution has been at
an extremely high level, particularly in the Delhi-NCR region and continues to remain
the ‘hazardous’ category.
Studies
have shown that air pollution can damage the kidneys. A significant association
between exposure to PM2.5 and risk of incident CKD, decrease in estimated
glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and progression to end stage renal
disease was reported online September 2, 2017 in the Journal of the American
Society of Nephrology.
It’s
now time perhaps to add air pollution (PM2.5) to the list of risk factors for chronic
kidney disease and recommend avoiding or limiting air pollution exposure to the
list of measures generally advised to prevent/delay chronic kidney disease.
It
has become important to also note the air pollution levels in different areas
in your city before venturing out to avoid exposure to pollution.
(Source: American
Society of Nephrology News Release, November 4, 2017)
