Of the many well-documented risks of dirty air, one potential danger is lesser known: chronic kidney disease.
There is good evidence that polluted air increases the risk of respiratory problems such as asthma — as well as organ inflammation, worsening of diabetes and other life-threatening conditions. But new research suggests air pollution can also fuel something else: chronic kidney disease, or CKD, which occurs when a person’s kidneys become damaged or cannot filter blood properly.
Recently published in PLOS One, a University of Michigan study highlights the lesser-known connection. "Similar to smoking, air pollution contains harmful toxins that can directly affect the kidneys,” says Jennifer Bragg-Gresham, M.S., Ph.D., a Michigan Medicine epidemiologist and the study’s lead author. “Kidneys have a large volume of blood flowing through them, and if anything harms the circulatory system, the kidneys will be the first to sense those effects.”
Continue reading at University of Michigan Medicine
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