Lead Exposure May Cause Poor Kidney Function in Overweight Children

Research finds that overweight children exposed to lead in-utero and during the first few weeks of life may have poorer kidney function in adulthood. The research team measured children’s blood levels when their mothers were pregnant and then measured their estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) levels when they were 8-12 years old.

eGFR is a measure of how well the kidneys are cleaning or filtering the blood.

The study's findings showed that children with high BMIs and who were exposed to lead were found to have a lower (eGFR).

Decreased kidney function can lead to hypertension, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and the leading cause of death in the developed world.

Obesity is also a known risk factor for hypertension and chronic kidney disease. The association between kidney toxicants found in the environment and childhood obesity had not been studied.

Alison Sanders, senior author, said, "This is the first study to assess an association between perinatal lead exposure at multiple times in early life with eGFR measured in preadolescence."

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She adds that future longitudinal assessments of kidney toxicant exposure and pre-adolescent kidney function are needed to improve our understanding of risk factors for kidney impairment and associated comorbidities.

This study was conducted on Mexican children due to exposure to higher lead levels and higher risk for kidney problems than American children. It is still ongoing and will follow the children into adolescence. Further research is required to generalize these findings to other populations.

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Source-Medindia