Aguascalientes youth kidney disease rates, Digi Mart USA News (Aguascalientes, Mexico): Aguascalientes ranks first nationally for kidney disease among young adults aged 25 to 40, according to local National Action Party deputy Alma Hilda Medina. The lawmaker said one of the main causes of the problem is preparing food with tap water that has a high concentration of fluoride.
In response, Medina announced that her awareness and prevention program will expand into a second phase focused on commercial and food establishments. She said reforms and mandatory kidney screening requirements will also be promoted.
Medina said Calvillo was once thought to be the epicenter of the crisis, but several neighborhoods in the state capital now report more sick residents. She said her visits identified families in which several members suffer from the disease, including in the Guadalupe Peralta, Valle de los Cactus and Los Pericos neighborhoods.
The lawmaker urged residents to prevent and detect the disease early and noted that medical tests are free for all residents, whether or not they have social security coverage or are affiliated with ISSSTE.
Aguascalientes registers 2,401 patients with chronic kidney disease per million inhabitants, one of the highest rates nationally and worldwide. Roughly 4,000 patients are living on dialysis or with a transplant, and 500 new cases are added each year, 200 of them among people aged 20 to 40.
Nationally, chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects 12 percent of the population, around 15 million Mexicans, and about 80 percent remain undiagnosed. According to INEGI, kidney failure caused 17,352 deaths in 2024 and ranked as the country’s tenth leading cause of death, commonly occurring from ages 25 to 34.
The Secretariat of Health estimates more than 15,000 deaths annually from this cause, while IMSS spent more than 33 billion pesos in 2024 treating 83,000 patients.
