The chronic kidney disease affects the ability of kidneys to cleanse the blood and remove waste from the body.
In Latin America and the Caribbeanthat condition already hits more than one in seven adultsaccording to a new study published in the specialized magazine The Lancet. The data shows that the region is among the most affected in the world.
Countries like Haiti, Panama, Mexico and Costa Rica lead the global figures, and mortality from kidney problems exceeds records in Nicaragua.
Colombia, Peru and Argentina They present intermediate figures within the region. Its prevalence and mortality are below the countries with the highest reported values, but above Latin American nations with lower rates, such as Chili either Uruguay.
That middle ground also demands attention, as chronic kidney disease continues to rise and represents a major challenge for health systems across the globe. Colombia, Peru and Argentina.
The results arise from work carried out by a team from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and NYU Langone Health of the USA and the University of Glasgowin Scotland, United Kingdom. They analyzed data from 204 countries and territories.
The chronic kidney disease It is a condition in which the kidneys stop working properly and do not filter waste from the blood as they should. Over time, this can cause serious problems throughout the body.
In the early stages, the disorder causes almost no symptoms, but later it can cause tiredness, swelling in the feet or hands, foamy or bloody urine, and loss of appetite. Sometimes people also suffer from high blood pressure and muscle cramps.
The diagnosis is made with a blood test where the creatininea substance that indicates whether the kidneys are working well. A urine test is also done to look for proteins and other changes that show kidney damage.
The researchers sought to know how many people live with chronic kidney disease in each country and how the situation has changed in recent decades. Its goal was to generate accurate data to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment globally.
They analyzed medical and statistical information from 204 countries and territories collected between 1990 and 2023. They used databases, national registries and reliable health reports to compare and calculate the figures.
They applied scientific methods to adjust for age and gender differences in the population. In this way, they achieved precise estimates of how many people have chronic kidney disease and how many died from it.
One of the co-authors of the work Lauryn StaffordIHME researcher, was interviewed exclusively by Infobae. He warned: “The current situation of chronic kidney disease in Latin America and the Caribbean is worryingespecially due to the significant increase in the burden of this disease in recent decades.”
The region had one of the highest age-adjusted prevalences in the world in 2023, at 15.4% among adults aged 20 years and older.
“Although the adjusted prevalence has grown little since 1990 (1.2% increase), the crude rate increased by 26.3%, reaching 15.5% in 2023, mainly due to the aging of the population,” the scientist explained.
Besides, the adjusted mortality rate increased 30.4% since 1990. “This indicates that the disease is increasingly deadly, probably due to the increase in other diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, and due to the lack of access to services such as dialysis or kidney transplant.”
There is also concern about the advance of a more aggressive variant, called chronic kidney disease of unknown origin. It affects young people more agricultural communities of Central America. “It could be contributing to these prevalent mortality patterns in some areas of the region,” he noted.
Diabetes, obesity and hypertension are the main risk factors driving the burden of chronic kidney disease in Latin America.
“All risk factors for chronic kidney disease can be reduced through more physical activity and a healthy diet,” Stafford highlighted.
In the case of chronic kidney disease of unknown cause, evidence points to possible links to heat stress, infections and exposure to toxins.
For the expert, another factor is climate change induced by human activities. Rising temperatures and extreme weather events, associated with climate change, can worsen kidney function and increase cases of kidney damage.
“Addressing climate change can also help mitigate the burden of disease by reducing the frequency of adverse weather events and global temperatures, “which have been related to an accelerated decrease in kidney function,” the researcher emphasized.
He suggested that they should develop and implement national guidelines to detect the disease, perform regular albumin testing in people at riskand thus kidney and cardiovascular complications could be better prevented.
Normally, healthy kidneys do not pass protein into the urine, but when they are damaged, the albumin it can leak out and appear in abnormal amounts. Albuminuria is an early sign of kidney damage.
Another proof is that of creatinine, a waste produced in the muscles and eliminated through urine. By measuring creatinine in the blood, doctors can tell if the kidneys are filtering properly.
When consulted by Infobaethe doctor Guillermo Rosa Diezformer president of the Argentine Society of Nephrology and coordinator of Latin American Registry of the Latin American Society of Nephrology and Hypertensioncommented: “It is interesting that the study has been published in The Lancet about a disease that is not yet well known by the population.
There is talk of kidney problems in general, “but the perception of the risk it implies for human health has not yet been developed,” he stressed.
According to Rosa Diez, the high poverty levels In Latin America they also influence. “People have difficulty controlling high blood pressure and diabetes, which in turn increases the risk of kidney disease.”
Data from the new study also show that the disease affects more people and causes more deaths in developing countries than in developed ones.
“Difficulties in accessing early diagnosis, dialysis and transplants aggravate the impact on the most vulnerable populations,” said the doctor.
In USA and Western Europethe prevalence is lower and advanced treatments are more available, but problems of underdiagnosis and a growing burden due to population aging persist.
“The situation in Latin America and the Caribbean is really very difficult. Patients are diagnosed in advanced stages and there are few units to access dialysis and transplants,” he told Infobae the doctor Luis Camerawho was a co-author of the study from Argentina. He is currently also secretary of the board of directors of the Argentine Society of Medicine.
