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Mesoamerican nephropathy (MeN) is a form of chronic kidney disease (CKD) not associated with traditional causes such as diabetes mellitus or high blood pressure. It was first described approximately two decades ago, when an increase in CKD cases was observed in the coastal regions of Mesoamerica, mainly in middle-aged men with low socioeconomic status who perform tasks that require a lot of physical effort such as agriculture. Panama has faced an exorbitant increase in the number of patients with CKD in recent years, especially in the central provinces and, in fact, for several years now, there have been reports of patients who meet the criteria for MeN in provinces such as Coclé, Herrera, Los Santos and Veraguas. For these reasons, the objective of this research was to define the existence of risk factors for suffering from MeN in sugarcane farmers in the province of Veraguas. Using a quantitative research approach, 108 sugarcane day laborers with informal employment contracts and with risk factors similar to those described by experts for this pathology were surveyed: young adults with an average age of 28 years, from low social strata, without coverage of hygiene and occupational safety standards, with exhausting shifts under the sun of up to 10 hours a day and without rest, lacking basic services such as drinking water in temporary accommodations, eating mainly canned and preserved foods, without the right to social security, with symptoms and health care practices compatible with those described to cause damage to the function and structure of the kidneys.
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