Studying the Impact of Water Insecurity and Health Biomarkers in the Turkana Community

Abstract

Water insecurity is a growing threat that will be exacerbated by growing urbanization, socioeconomic development, and climate change acting in parallel. Given water’s central role to human health, it is thus essential to have high quality and available drinking water. This study inextricably links non communicable disease (NCD) risk—cardiovascular, kidney, and liver—to dehydration stress. Dehydration stress is associated with higher body mass index (BMI) –a marker of greater cardiovascular disease risk—and elevated levels of protein and urobilinogen in the urine—a marker of poor kidney and liver function. Specifically, I have shown how dehydration stress leads to higher BMI—greater cardiovascular disease risk—and elevated levels of protein and urobilinogen in the urine—poorer kidney and liver health outcomes. This study also shows how dehydration stress is associated with distinct immune signatures. Although this study finds dehydration stress to be associated with distinct health outcomes, we have not established a causal link between these factors; future studies will need to be establish causal inference. The cumulative impact of dehydration stress on NCD risk and immune stress is a reminder of the importance of addressing the impact of water insecurity, a growing health threat around the world.