WASHINGTON (Dispatches)-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 by the University of Michigan 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.
"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."
People with diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure or heart disease are at increased risk of developing CKD. Which is why high-risk patients who live in heavily populated or polluted areas should recognize the danger and take precautions, Bragg-Gresham says.
Air pollution contains fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, which is a cocktail of microscopic particles.
Because these particles are virtually weightless, they can stay in the air longer, causing humans to unavoidably inhale them on a regular basis without knowing it. PM2.5 can lead to serious health effects when inhaled often.