The mysterious kidney disease has caused many villagers and farmers to wonder if they have the disease. Some will stand for hours in a line of 1,000 people to get their blood tested because they want to know if they have it.
The often fatal kidney disease has only struck in certain northern districts where Sir Lanka has switched to more modern farming methods. At least 20,000 people have died from it in the last 20 years, but somewhere between 70,000 and 400,000 have gotten sick from it. Still, no one knows why.
Similar diseases that affect the kidneys are showing up in other parts of the world. Farmers are also getting it in some parts of Central America, in India, and also in Egypt. Nicaragua and El Salvadore are also seeing similar problems, but some are blaming the chemicals now being used in agriculture, and still others think it could be the result of long periods of dehydration while working in the fields.
The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to search for answers, but has found nothing for sure, at least not yet. They have looked at water, agricultural chemicals, metals such as cadmium and arsenic, and more. The search goes on. In three of the northern districts, WHO conducted a medical study that revealed that 15 percent of the adults there had kidney disease.
When someone gets a kidney disease in Sri Lanka, it is not good news. Disease treatment is limited because the entire country only has 183 dialysis machines, and kidney transplants from cadavers are out of the question – the program does not exist. There still is no disease solution and women are affected by it more than men.
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mystery-kidney-killer-spreads-fear-sri-lanka-041036794.html
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Graphics: Mine
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Keywords: kidney disease, fatal, disease, WHO, Sri Lanka, farmers, disease solution, disease treatment, medical studies, farmers