Introduction
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a population health problem with genetic factors and can be escalated because of environmental factors. In 2017, CKD was the twelfth leading cause worldwide, with more than 1.2 million deaths (Carney, 2020). Individuals of different ages are at risk of developing severe conditions, such as disability, earlier death, and high economic costs of treatment. Although the genetic determinants cannot be altered, environmental factors significantly influence CKD and can be managed for preventative measures. Indeed, pollution provoked by exposure to agricultural chemicals and biogenic toxins is an agent that worsens the kidney’s functioning (Xu et al., 2018). This paper aims to discuss how environmental contaminations influence CKD escalation among people with a genetic predisposition for developing the disease.
Person
A scientific and medical research about CKD revealed that various factors could affect how a person with a predisposition worsens their kidneys’ functioning. Indeed, people whose lifestyle includes working in industrial segments such as mining, agriculture, or chemical substances processing are triggering their genetic factors with the dangerous agents (Obrador et al., 2017). Xu et al. (2018) state that “the kidney is particularly vulnerable to toxic effects from environmental pollutants owing to its filtration functions” (p. 314). The incidence of CKD is tied to a person’s lifestyle; therefore, populations with the lowest socioeconomic status and the inability to access proper healthcare are the most prevalent.
Place
Environmental pollution is high in the industrial regions, and the inhabitants are at risk of developing severe CKD conditions. The disease exposure rates are higher in developing countries such as South Africa, Mexico, Russia, and India, and the main agent for it is the environmental pollution caused by the types of manufacturing performed there (Carney, 2020). In the United States, the prevalence of CKD is also higher in the inhabitants of the most polluted regions who are forced to put their kidneys at risk of disfunction due to the demand for filtering hazardous substances (Crews, Bello, & Saadi, 2019). Moreover, developing countries and states have worse healthcare and less access to proper nutrition; consequently, they lack preventative practices that could decrease the incidence rates.
Time
Modern medicine and technological development allow for timely notice of the deviations, identifying genetic predisposition, and performing transplantation in the severest cases. However, the costs of CKD treatment have a high cost for society not only because of the mortality rates and the economic burden for treatment but also for the lack of donor organs. Artificial or natural replacements cannot currently cover the number of people in need of transplantation, and environmental pollution affects healthy people who could donate kidneys (Crews et al., 2019). The factors of inaccessibility of proper treatment, poor lifestyle, and environmental agents’ exposure combined with the costs of addressing the CKD challenge lead to disparities in populations. For instance, citizens involved in highly polluted manufacturing commonly represent racial minority groups and might have less access to proper healthcare (Obrador et al., 2017). If environmental pollution remains a part of a person’s life for a long time, the genetic risk of severe CKD can lead to premature death. Today there is an emerging need for regulating the range of healthcare services people of minority groups or specific regions can receive.
Conclusion
CKD is a modern healthcare challenge in which genetic prepositions can be escalated by environmental pollution. In the developing regions, poor lifestyles, the demand for working in contaminated conditions, and the lack of proper healthcare cause thousands of people to die. Environmental pollution severely influences kidneys’ health due to their filtering function, and genetic deviations in it can lead to CKD and other related diagnoses. Although modern medicine allows transplantation and novel treatment approaches, most affected populations cannot afford or reach the healthcare institutions necessary to assist.
References
Carney, E. F. (2020). The impact of chronic kidney disease on global health. Nature Reviews Nephrology, 16(5), 251.
Crews, D. C., Bello, A. K., & Saadi, G. (2019). Burden, access, and disparities in kidney disease.Kidney International, 95, 242-248.
Healthy People. (2020). Chronic kidney disease. Web.
Obrador, G. T., Schultheiss, U. T., Kretzler, M., Langham, R. G., Nangaku, M., Pecoits-Filho, R., Pollock, C., Rossert, J., Correa-Rotter, R., Stenvinkel, P., Walker, R., Yang, C., Fox, C. S., & Köttgen, A. (2017). Genetic and environmental risk factors for chronic kidney disease. Kidney International Supplements, 7(2), 88-106.
Xu, X., Nie, S., Ding, H., & Hou, F. F. (2018). Environmental pollution and kidney diseases.Nature Reviews Nephrology, 14(5), 313-324.