Source: Liberation Net (Shanghai) Key Tip: The other day, a 53-year-old woman from Guangdong revealed to the media with her medical records that after consuming Sanlu milk powder, she developed kidney stones and blood in her urine, making her potentially the first adult victim of the "milk disaster." News Morning Post reported on October 8th that the other day, a 53-year-old woman from Guangdong complained to the media with her medical records that after consuming Sanlu milk powder, she developed kidney stones and blood in her urine. Given that the victims of the Sanlu milk powder scandal had been concentrated among infants and young children, if this situation is verified, she would be the first adult victim of the "milk disaster." Yesterday, experts informed that it's less likely for adults to develop kidney stones due to consuming milk powder containing melamine, and furthermore, the testing process is relatively complex. Proving a direct causal relationship between the two exists difficulties, but a connection cannot be ruled out.
An adult woman claims the incident originated from Sanlu
The other day, a 53-year-old woman from Guangdong filed a complaint with the media holding her medical records, stating that she suffered from kidney stones and blood in her urine, suspecting it was caused by drinking Sanlu brand high-calcium milk powder for women. It is understood that this Huang-surnamed woman currently teaches at a vocational college on Guangzhou Guangyuan Middle Road. In July this year, before the Sanlu milk powder incident was exposed, this lady started drinking Sanlu brand high-calcium milk powder for women. According to her own account, on the day she drank the milk powder at noon, she experienced blood in her urine in the afternoon. Later, she underwent examinations at Sun Yat-sen Third Hospital and the Provincial Chinese Medicine Hospital, discovering that both her kidneys and ureters had developed stones, which had already led to water retention and resulted in blood in her urine.
Subsequently, the Sanlu milk powder incident was uncovered, and Ms. Huang saw that the Sanlu brand high-calcium milk powder for women she had consumed was on the list, thus suspecting that the milk powder was the root cause of her kidney stones, intending to seek an explanation from Sanlu. However, by the time of the deadline last night, the reporter learned that Ms. Huang changed her mind and decided not to pursue the matter further.
Screening population has yet to expand scope
Since the Sanlu milk powder incident, the affected group has always been concentrated among infants and young children, and the National Health Department also required all levels of health departments to widely screen cases of infants and young children suffering from kidney stone diseases. If Ms. Huang's case is confirmed to also be related to Sanlu milk powder, she will become the first adult to "be hit" by this issue. Then, will the screening scope be further expanded? Yesterday, the reporter learned from the national health department that the screening scope has not yet been extended to adults. As of September 12, localities have reported 432 cases of urinary system stone disease in children. There were no adult patients among the reported cases.
Expert opinion: Lower chance for adults consuming melamine-containing milk powder to develop kidney stones
Professor Wang Yixin of Shanghai's Urology Department pointed out that the likelihood of adults developing illness after consuming melamine-contaminated milk powder is much lower than that of infants and young children, but there isn't an absolute lack of relation between the two. Compared to infants and young children, adults have more complete kidney functions and faster excretion, making it less likely for toxins to settle within the body. Two conditions are needed to form stones after ingesting melamine: one is using milk powder with ultra-high concentration as the main food and drink; the second is continuous consumption. Adults generally do not use milk powder as their main food, and their intake is far less than that of infants and young children, and they also excrete faster, so the possibility of "being hit" is much lower than that of infants and young children. However, Professor Wang also indicated that there isn't an absolute lack of relation between the two, and testing is necessary.
No established consumption warning line domestically, difficulty in obtaining evidence
Professor Wang Yixin believes that situations like Ms. Huang's present difficulties in obtaining evidence. Secondly, there are various causes for adults developing kidney stones.
Regarding how much melamine a human body can ingest before becoming dangerous, Professor Wang stated that domestic medical institutions have yet to research this warning standard. Based on the safety limit evaluation results of the United States Food and Drug Administration for daily melamine intake by humans, a 60-kilogram adult ingesting less than 37.8 milligrams of melamine per day, or consuming no more than 2.5 kilograms of milk powder containing 15 milligrams/kilogram of melamine, generally will not harm the urinary system.
(Original Source: Liberation Net - News Morning Post, Author: Li Xiaoming)