This is how the kidneys are affected by climate change

The International Climate Conference COP 26 opened today in Glasgow, Scotland.

But not only the world’s climate is at stake. So is everyone’s health. Not least the kidneys are at risk for infection. Research shows that the higher the temperature, the more people with impaired kidney function.

In an article in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, researchers at Monash University in Australia have for the first time identified cases of kidney disease as a result of temperature changes, with the researchers using Brazil as an example.

Between 2000 and 2015, attention was paid to 2,726,886 people are hospitalized in Brazil with kidney problems. By comparing daytime temperatures in more than 1,800 towns and villages where the hospital was admitted, the researchers were able to see that there was a direct relationship between temperature and the risk of kidney disease. The risk of disease was greatest on the same day the temperature rose, but remained one to two days after exposure to heat. Women, children, and people 80 years of age or older were at higher risk than others.

The researchers’ calculations showed that approximately 7.4 percent of the number of hospitalizations can be attributed to changes in temperature, which in this case corresponds to 202 thousand patients. The study also showed that a degree Celsius increase in the average daytime temperature increases the risk of kidney disease by one percent.

But why the kidneys?

The kidneys are the organ in the body that controls body temperature by ensuring the proper balance of fluids and salts in the body. The higher the temperature, the more water we drink, which means that the risk of dehydration increases with the rise in temperature, which in turn increases the risk of kidney problems.

In 2017, an article in The Lancet showed that about 2.6 million deaths each year are caused by malfunctioning kidneys and that the incidence of these diseases has increased by 26 percent, compared to the previous decade, an increase in part related to the ongoing climate. Change.

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