A Toxicant That Affects a Target Organ - Essay Example

"A Toxicant That Affects a Target Organ" is a wonderful example of a paper on metabolic problems. A toxicant is any substance whether chemical or not that cause harm to both animal and humans. The toxicant I found interesting is cadmium. It is a non-essential, non-degradable heavy metal widely distributed in all compounds in the environment (Friberg, 1984). Its toxicity was discovered by various authors that specialized in animal experiments and human epidemiology. The target organ that is primarily affected by cadmium is the kidney. The human intake of cadmium takes place through the ingestion of terrestrial foods and inhalation (Johri & Jacquillet et al., 2010). For instance from plants grown in an area vastly exposed to cadmium or through meat from animals which ingest the same plants. Research results estimated that 98% of cadmium ingested comes from terrestrial foods and only 1%  are from aquatic food.

Effects of cadmium

Long-term exposure to cadmium through inhalation may give rise to kidney damage from minor tubular dysfunctions to severe impairment. However, it also induces other effects for instance lung disease. Research has shown that cigarettes contain various chemical substances and among them is cadmium (Fassett, 1975). Throughout my life, I have witnessed various illnesses induced by smoking such as lung cancer. Cadmium can at a certain level be associated with the disease. Furthermore, the threat of cancer and cadmium is still controversial but results from the scientific study have shown that a certain proportion of cadmium leads to prostate cancer in men. Studies have also shown that the biochemical mechanism for cadmium is that it acts as a catalyst that increases peroxidation and depletes antioxidants in the body (Johri & Jacquillet et al., 2010).

Since the kidney is the target organ for cadmium, signs attributed to this toxicant are tubular and glomerular dysfunction with proteinuria, low concentration capacity, and decreased inulin clearance. The most severe complication caused by cadmium to the kidney is renal failure. The renal system is very important in the kidney because it increases efficiency in the purification of blood (Bernard & Foulkes, 1986). Thus a renal failure could lead to kidney transplant or dialysis which is a very expensive procedure. Moreover, there are less complicated effects of cadmium in the kidney. Kidney stones are among the so not life-threatening effects of cadmium and the problem can be solved through medical interventions. Other effects include lack of protein reabsorption in the glomerulus walls which are highly damaging by the high concentration of cadmium in the kidney (Fassett, 1975).

Other than the kidney, cadmium has been found to also affect the liver. Liver disease is also closely associated to this toxicant. The high concentration of cadmium in the liver further enters into the bloodstream and is transported to various parts of the body. Most of this blood flow to the kidney where much of the damage is caused (Bernard & Foulkes, 1986).

Conclusion

Cadmium is a heavy metal that is very dangerous. High concentration in the kidney has led to deaths an overall severe kidney dysfunction, renal failure, and glomerular disorder. People should avoid cigarette smoking as it is a source of cadmium exposure in the body. It is of importance for the government and health practitioners to address this issue. The industrial sector that uses cadmium tetrachloride in manufacturing should implement measures of safe disposal of cadmium by-products to prevent its exposure in the environment. All these measures will at some level help solve the cases of cadmium related health effects on humans.