Farmers Exposed To Sun For Long Hours Suffer From Chronic Kidney Failure: Study
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A recent study has revealed that farmers who are exposed to the sun for long hours suffer chronic kidney failure due to extreme heat.
This study, which received the financial support of the Public Health Department and the National Health Commission, divided Tamil Nadu into five zones according to the impact of heat and surveyed the kidney function of 3,350 farmers from 125 villages. Out of them, 17.3% were found to have kidney damage.
"Since it was not possible to confirm it immediately, we conducted a retest after three months. At that time, the number decreased to 5.31%. But it was shocking that 50% of the people studied did not have any comorbidities like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, or genetic disease," Dr Gopalakrishnan said.
"Therefore, we conducted blood and kidney tests from samples taken from the farmers at the central testing centre in Chennai. Based on that, we confirmed that they had 'chronic kidney failure'. The result was compared with the heat damage data obtained from the Meteorological Centre. We found that these farmers had kidney failure due to the impact of the sun," he added.
Dr Gopalakrishnan said farmers, construction workers, sales representatives, brick kiln workers, pesticide sprayers, iron workshop workers, and salt pan workers who work outdoors for many hours daily in the heat quickly lose water from their bodies, which severely damages the kidneys, leading to their failure.
Prevention Measures
However, the amount of urine produced by the affected people does not decrease. No symptoms can be felt in the early stages, and awareness about this is very low in society. Therefore, agricultural workers, construction workers, and others who work in the sun for a long time daily should ensure that their bodies do not lose water, he added.
He recommends that those who work continuously under the sun must undergo blood cell and urine tests, including urea, creatinine, GFR, and the general ones, even if they experience minor discomfort.