WHO identifies cadmium and pesticides as root cause of kidney disease The WHO Coordinator, Chronic Diseases Prevention and Management (WHO-CCDPM), Prof. Shanthi Mendis, on Thursday (26), identified exposure to low levels of cadmium through food and pesticides, as the causative factors for the Chronic Kidney Disease of Uncertain Aetiology (CKDu). Addressing a gathering of WHO representatives, researchers and doctors at the BMICH, to brief them on the collaborative research findings of CKDu, Prof. Mendis said that the people of the North Central Province (NCP) were also affected by the arsenic and lead found in pesticides and food. The disease could also be hereditary. The fact that patients also suffer from Selenium deficiency may also make them vulnerable to nephrotoxins which causes CKDu, she said. The WHO had made several recommendations to the government to enable it to control the disease, which had increased the poverty levels of those suffering from it. Treatment was very expensive and patients were left with no other option. The affected areas of the NCP - especially Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Mahiyangana - should be provided with pipe-borne clean drinking water. "Don’t make them buy bottled water. A majority of patients as well as the rest of the population were of a low income level and they cannot be expected to purchase bottled water," she adviced. island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=88954
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 08:09:06 +0000
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