engleski

Endemic (Balkan) Nephropathy: A disease caused by aristolochic acid.

Endemic (Balkan) nephropathy (EN) is a devastating chronic renal disease, affecting residents of rural villages situated near tributaries of the Danube river in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. The disease affects at least 25, 000 men and women, while another 75, 000 are estimated to be at risk. The prevalence of confirmed EN cases in the endemic regions of Croatia has fluctuated between 2% and 10% of the village population. Significant epidemiologic features of EN include its presence only in certain villages ; a familial pattern of disease ; occurrence in adults and never in children under 15 years of age ; restriction to rural farming populations ; and strong association (∼50%) with transitional urothelial cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract. This epidemiologic evidence strongly suggests that an environmental toxin is involved in the etiology of EN and its associated cancers.

Endemic (Balkan) nephropathy, transitional urothelial cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract, environmental toxin

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