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‘Should we consider renaming ‘Mesoamerican Nephropathy’ as Nephropathy of Unknown Cause in Agricultural Labourers (NUCAL)?’
  1. Srinivas Subramanian1,
  2. Muhammad Masoom Javaid2
  1. 1Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore
  2. 2National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore
  1. Correspondence to Dr Srinivas Subramanian, American Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Nephrology, National University Hospital, 5 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119074, Singapore; srinivas_subrama{at}hotmail.com

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Mesoamerican nephropathy (MAN) refers to a kidney disease that primarily afflicts male labourers (usually in the agricultural sector) and has been mainly identified in regions of Central America.1 While the global prevalence and incidence is not known, in the regions where the condition has been recognised, the prevalence has been noted to be between 10% and 15%. Nearly 20 000 deaths have been attributed to this condition from El Salvador alone.2 The aetiology is unclear. It is thought to be contributed to by dehydration, malnutrition, fructose ingestion, electrolyte imbalance, pesticides, environmental toxins and heat injury. The role of genetics or other patient factors is unclear. Clusters …

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Footnotes

  • Contributors MMJ was involved in discussion and preparation of the manuscript. His inputs have been incorporated in the manuscript.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

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