A Mysterious Kidney Disease Has Arrived in Texas

(texasmonthly.com)

30 points | by johntfella 1 hour ago

7 comments

  • anenefan 42 minutes ago
    I wasn't able to beat the bot wall, but I assume story close to [1] The thing of it is I'm aware of something very much the same - heat related kidney damage - something when I got a casual job with construction back in 2005, within the first couple of weeks I was warned rather pointedly by another worker who'd spent most of his working life around concreting and construction, of the dangers of long hours spend slouched over working on the concrete slabs. He had known many who'd got very ill despite following good hydration protocols [2], and knew working in the heat out on the slab came with this real risk. I being a new chum was dressed in heavy full length clothing, he generally wore cooler clothing - light shorts and short sleeved shirt which wasn't protocol for the job.

    [1] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/davereddick_mysterious-kidney...

    [2] Most labouring job sites I've been at in the 00s at least always had a very prominent chart regarding urine colour and the dangers of dehydration, and heat stroke. As such most workers at various sites I've worked at being much more aware of urine colour regarding dehydration than most of the medical staff I encountered at the hospital my Mum died in.

    Edit: Forgot to mention my locale is North Queensland Australia - it gets fairly hot though summers.

    • wlesieutre 33 minutes ago
      Can’t help that the state government is actively undermining local protections for workers dealing with heat dangers

      https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/16/texas-heat-wave-wate...

    • paulcole 34 minutes ago
      > I wasn't able to beat the bot wall

      Most people have access to at least one 16-digit code that will do the trick.

      • anenefan 19 minutes ago
        Well what that 16 digit code might be I am unaware. I used to be able to unpick java based stuff to bypass walls but these days I really just don't try too hard, typically a site these days isn't a single site but uses other external services - I have many such services denied for scraping PII needlessly.

        I could try a different browser - but in the time I wait for the site to decide if I'm not a bot, if I'm that invested, I've already done a quick search of topic heading and ...

        • Terr_ 4 minutes ago
          [delayed]
  • ggm 1 hour ago
    A disease which targets latinx? seems more likely its field workers, inadequate hydration and bad fluid hygene overall.

    Could be culturally diet influenced as well.

    My urologist after I had my first oxalate kidney stone said "you can drink a litre of water a day, or you can pay for my yacht upgrade. It's your choice" -but the main thing was to limit oxalate rich foods or take adequate citric acid alongside/soon after. Obv there are many kinds of kidney disease aside from stones, but the commonality here about 'use it or lose it' with heat, fluids, work strikes me.

    • tptacek 1 hour ago
      Hard to imagine a diet of cultural significance that would put people into lifelong dialysis, at an epidemic scale.
      • riffraff 2 minutes ago
        [delayed]
      • nine_k 52 minutes ago
        A diet that makes a particular infection easier to take root is very imaginable.
        • bawolff 49 minutes ago
          sure, but not if we are just suddenly seeing it now. Most cultural based diets have a long history.
    • phyzome 46 minutes ago
      For your explanation to be correct, you'd have to explain why this doesn't affect field workers of other genetic background all around the world.
      • throwup238 34 minutes ago
        It does. This article is about Latino workers but there are well known hotspots for CKDu in Sri Lanka and India. There’s other reports of it in the rest of Asia, Middle East, and Africa but its not as well known of an issue and under reported.
    • card_zero 1 hour ago
      What's the popular food that contains lots of oxalates? I don't see anyone binging on sorrel or star fruit or parsley.
      • christophilus 57 minutes ago
        It’s in loads of things. Peanuts, spinach, beans, chocolate, avocados, corn, soy… the list is endless. If someone is really sensitive, they can have problems with high oxalate foods. Some people seem to accumulate oxalates, meaning their problems compound, where others have no problem at all. Biology is weird.
      • nine_k 54 minutes ago
        Spinach. Many nuts, e.g. almonds. Many beans (including cocoa but excluding coffee). Well, potatoes!
      • thelastgallon 59 minutes ago
        Spinach. Maybe other leafy vegetables.
        • 4lx87 49 minutes ago
          Spinach is very high per serving, but all sorts of foods can have high oxalates per serving. Sweet potato, Swiss chard, almonds, beets, chocolate. You'd have to consult the content per serving for all foods you consume if you're trying to avoid them.
      • jrootabega 57 minutes ago
        Spinach and almonds.
        • card_zero 42 minutes ago
          I'm frequenting clinics

          'Cos I eats my spinach,

          I've kidney the failure, man

  • bawolff 51 minutes ago
    Did these people never have a blood test/urine test prior to this? Normal Kidney disease should show up on tests long before the stage of collapsing.

    I'm not a doctor, but if its sudden onset, all in a similar socio-economic-cultutal group, i would assume there was some sort of toxin they were all exposed to, perhaps at work.

    • TranquilMarmot 30 minutes ago
      I assume that they do not have regular access to medical care, especially if they are immigrant workers.

      Anecdotally, I have chronic kidney disease that would not have shown up on routine bloodwork / urinalysis. Only after multiple acute episodes did I get a biopsy for a diagnosis, and even that took a year of bouncing between specialists in a big city with good healthcare.

    • trentor 45 minutes ago
      I get doing a blood panel once a year or so if you are not scraping by but never heard of doing a urine test without indication.
      • thaeli 26 minutes ago
        A routine urinalysis has always been part of my normal annual physicals.
  • profsummergig 56 minutes ago
    are these the same workers who pluck vegetables while they're being sprayed with pesticides and herbicides?
  • EA-3167 51 minutes ago
    https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11093537/

    The best guesses are both chronic rather than single acute injuries. High heat, dehydration, hard work, exposure to nitrites and who knows what else.

    It’s mysterious because the specific etiology is unclear and therefore hard to prevent, since telling field workers not to work in the heat will be ignored by all involved.

  • bamboozled 53 minutes ago
    I wonder if this is what regulations were for?
  • doc_ick 47 minutes ago
    Don’t worry, raw milk will save the day

    *they said crying