Introduction:
In Colombia, South America, in 2018, 1,905,617 people identified themselves as indigenous. Recognizing 115 ethnic groups
We visited the Chonara Huena and Ipua Euja communities, in the jungle area of the Pacific coast. (See image#1) This study aimed to determine the prevalence of Hypertension, Diabetes, Proteinuria, Obesity, and poor nutrition(See images#2,3)
Methods:
It was developed by a direct visit to the population, where a sampling was made with people who voluntarily accepted to participate in capillary glucose, spontaneous albuminuria, blood pressure, and anthropometry, recording information in a survey. This is a descriptive cross-sectional prevalence study. With consent for the publication of data and images, with the approval of the ethics committee of the Simón Bolívar University of Barranquilla
Results:
The Colombian Pacific rainforest region has an area of 83,170 km2 which corresponds to about 7% of the territory. It is the second most tropical biodiverse region in the world
The Indigenous communities Chonara Huena and Ipua Euja are part of the smallest communities in Colombia, are neighboring communities that share territorial similarities. The members of the Chonara Huena community belong to the Eperara Siapidara ethnic group
A total of 98 people were attended to and surveyed, 53 women and 45 men
The prevalence of hypertension in this population was strikingly high, taking into account that 12% vs the Colombian prevalence of hypertension 10.87%
The 7.14% of the women had had more than 3 urinary tract infections, none of the men.
The 2% had a diagnosis of diabetes, which is well below the world average (10.5%). This could correspond to their lifestyle, physical activity, and local nutritional habits, being beneficial for the Indigenous community, but unfortunately is changing
The 6% presented a diagnosis of proteinuria, this very high prevalence should be investigated in detail, especially because of the wet tropical environment where the human group studied lives, or some of their diets or ancestral consumptions that could be potentially nephrotoxic
The 17% were overweight and 15% were obese, which can be explained by the change in current nutritional habits.
The 42% were underweight. This indicates the need to develop institutional programs aimed at avoiding malnutrition and/or undernourishment in this population, a program that should go beyond simply providing food, it should be comprehensive, in the form of constitution of consumption, the type and source of each one, regulated physical activity, education, etc
Conclusions:
The prevalence of hypertension is higher in this indigenous community, but especially proteinuria, which may be similar to Mesoamerican nephropathy, (tropical renal disease?) as they are similar ethnic groups, which should be studied in detail
Education in the prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases should be focused on respecting the historical dignity of each community, and also focusing on the preservation of the biodiversity where they are located
Changes in eating habits may be associated with a very high prevalence of malnutrition, and the prevalence of malnutrition and its impact on the incidence of chronic kidney disease is of great concern
The active search for renal diseases should be a constant in all populations, especially the most remote and vulnerable
I have no potential conflict of interest to disclose.
I did not use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process.