The condition, linked to heat on a warming planet, is affecting immigrants from Central America and Mexico. As scientists race to track the growing epidemic, its victims have been driven further into the shadows.
Epidemiologists disagree on exactly what causes CKDu, although studies have consistently identified physical labor in extreme heat as a contributor.
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The Trump administration’s draconian immigration-enforcement and mass-deportation efforts leave CKDu experts more concerned. The most-affected workers are now even less likely to seek preventive care and less willing to participate in research on the causes and treatment of CKDu.
Great. A new disease, and people are too scared to come forward and help science progress.
Dark Ages II, here we come!
That extreme heat can damage the kidneys is not entirely new.
Perhaps not, but science isn’t scared of finding the same answers multiple times to find the one time they’re different. If we just said, “Well, seen this before, nothing to see here,” we’d never make scientific progress!
