Mystery Illness Has Killed 24,000 in Central America, page 1

privacy

Pages:
ATS Members have flagged this thread 2 times

Topic started on 12-2-2012 @ 08:49 AM by FlyersFan

*That's the title at Spirit Daily.
Spirit Daily

A mysterious epidemic is devastating the Pacific coast of Central America, killing more than 24,000 people in El Salvador and Nicaragua since 2000 and striking thousands of others with chronic kidney disease at rates unseen virtually anywhere else. Scientists say they have received reports of the phenomenon as far north as southern Mexico and as far south as Panama.

MSNBC - Mystery Epidemic

There is lots of speculation on this. Everything from pesticides to dehydration to global warming.
Kidneys are failing. Dialysis is mostly unavailable on this large a scale.

Click on the red triangles over Central America - Read 'details'
There are many alerts in this area. Mystery illness. Epidemic.

reply posted on 12-2-2012 @ 08:59 AM by Biigs

It could be the stress of repeated dyhydration, like the article goes on to discuss.

Perhaps the constant lack of water to actually wash out toxins, breaks down the kidneys ability to work properly and after a while gives up.

Sounds like a nasty way to go, i do hope its not an actual virus.

reply posted on 12-2-2012 @ 09:02 AM by Fopicon

Also note that the number 24,000 has happened in the past 12 years. Not all of a sudden.

reply posted on 12-2-2012 @ 09:13 AM by neotech1neothink

Hi,

WELL DONE OP!

STAR AND FLAG FOR YOU.

EVERYONE AFFECTED PLEASE READ MY ATS POST ABOUT "CELTIC SEA SALT" HERE...

I'M GUESSING THAT THIS COULD BE USED TO NOT ONLY GIVE THE PATIENTS ESSENTIAL MINERALS BUT ALSO IT REMOVES TOXINS FROM KIDNEYS IF LARGE SCALE DIALYSIS IS NOT AVAILABLE?

EXTRACT FROM INTERVIEW...

BISER: What is the normal reaction to Celtic salt?

DE LANGRE: The major reaction is a renewal of energy. Fatigue diminishes. You also have more mental alertness. As far as adverse reactions, some people get rashes. The salt acts as a scavenger and purges the body of many toxins from some hidden areas. These toxins come out into the circulatory and lymph system and particularly the kidney area. This is where the rash comes from; it is a kidney cleansing. This is a normal reaction for people who are very toxic. If you are not toxic, it will not happen.

EVERYONE AFFECTED PLEASE READ MY ATS POST ABOUT "CELTIC SEA SALT" HERE...

reply posted on 12-2-2012 @ 08:24 PM by bobs_uruncle

reply to post by FlyersFan

What companies operate in those areas, or companies that use similar processes and chemicals? Hotspots like these tend to follow a technilogical "edge" unless of course it has something to do with specific insects (or bats) communicating bacteria or viri. Myself, I would look at corporations first.

Cheers - Dave

reply posted on 14-2-2012 @ 08:13 AM by soficrow

reply to post by FlyersFan

The coverage on this story is SUCH bs - the idea that every disease has a single cause and effect is obsolete and totally defunct. The body is a complex system influenced by the environment.

Obviously:

1. Pesticides and herbicides stress the kidneys and system;
2. Water is not available, so the toxins are not flushed from the body;
3. The toxins accumulate, over-stressing the kidneys;
4. Rest might take the load off the kidneys and the body's other systems, but the workers can't rest either; so
5. Their kidneys and other organs and systems start shutting down, and they die young.

The real issue, they think, is the nature of and circumstances around the work itself, which generally involve long hours in sweltering temps without adequate water or rest. Sugar cane cutters, many of whom start as young as 10, push their bodies through repeated bouts of dehydration and stress, both of which can at least temporarily diminish kidney function. Over time, the recurrent attacks could cause long-term damage.

...Elsy Brizuela, a doctor who works with an El Salvadoran project to treat workers and research the epidemic, insists that the culprit “is exposure to herbicides and poisons.” Her claim is partially supported by the fact that the highest rates of disease occur around the Ingenio San Antonio, a plant owned by the Pellas Group, which processes nearly half of Nicaragua’s sugar. But it’s also at least partially disproved by a study from Catharina Wesseling, MD, PhD, an epidemiologist and regional director of the Program on Work, Health, and Environment in Central America.

Wesseling tested groups who had similar work habits and pesticide exposure but who were employed under different circumstances — i.e., at sea level versus above it. She found that coastal dwellers were more likely to have chemical markers of kidney failure, suggesting that the common denominator was the conditions of the work, not the chemicals, an idea that is backed by evidence of high disease rates in other hot farming areas around the world.

“I think that everything points away from pesticides,” Wesseling told the AP. It is too multinational; it is too spread out. I would place my bet on repeated dehydration, acute attacks everyday. That is my bet, my guess, but nothing is proved.”