Journals Proceedings

Abstract

Chronic Kidney Disease due to unknown etiology (CKDu) is a deadly disease of which the prevalence have been identified in several countries in North Central America, India and Sri Lanka. Several studies have showed that, the usual factors as long-standing diabetes and hypertension are not the leading causes for the majority of CKD patients from the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Many researchers suggest that the etiology for CKDu may be a combination of several environmental factors. Some suggest that even though no single geochemical parameter could be clearly and directly related to the CKD etiology, it is very likely that the unique hydro-geochemistry of the drinking water is closely associated with the incidence of the disease. Hence this research was aimed to identify the CKDu prevalence in Sri Lanka and the similarities with the reported cases in the world, and to evaluate the suggested etiologies for the CKDu in Sri Lanka with more focus to the strong etiology suggestions. Initially a thorough literature review was conducted to identify the existing hypothesis and analyzed published and unpublished data to define strong hypothesis related to groundwater quality, socio-economic and environmental facts. Also, a field groundwater quality investigation was conducted in several endemic and non-endemic regions. The results showed that some of the risk factors in Sri Lanka are similar to other country cases, and mainly the excess fluoride and hardness levels seems to have a direct impact on the prevalence of CKDu in Sri Lanka. However, no any heavy metal has proven for direct correlation with the CKDu prevalence.