BROADCASTS.com

Published: March 24, 2021, 4 a.m.

How many marathon runners have acute kidney damage after they cross the finish line? According to a Yale University study, the answer is a shocking 55%. So if you\u2019ve ever run a marathon, the odds are slightly better than 50% that this has happened to you.\xa0

But don\u2019t worry. The damage tends to be temporary, resolving itself after a few days. So we heal, get stronger, and move on. But what if something goes wrong?

Dr. Sherry Mansour and Dr. F. Perry Wilson are kidney doctors or nephrologists at Yale, and they share their expertise on running and your kidneys. Dr. Mansour actually led the research on marathon runners and kidney research. They talk to Coach Claire about who is susceptible to acute kidney damage from running, what we can do about it, and what we still need to learn.\xa0\xa0

They also discuss ibuprofen which can cause kidney issues, and how it can be used safely by runners. They also delve into kidney stones. If you\u2019ve ever had one, you know they are extremely painful. They cover how to minimize the risk of kidney stones and what precautions kidney stone sufferers need to take when running long distances.

If you are a runner with kidneys, this is one conversation you don't want to miss!

Dr. Sherry Mansour grew up and attended medical school in New York. She graduated in 2010 and received the Highest Academic Achievement Award. She was elected valedictorian of her class and was also inducted into the Psi Sigma Alpha National Osteopathic Scholastic Honor Society. She went on to complete residency training in Internal Medicine at Stony Brook University Medical Center, where she was chosen as chief medical resident. She was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, Stony Brook Chapter in 2012. She then joined Yale New Haven Hospital in 2014 as a Clinical Research Nephrology fellow. She also completed her Master of Science from the Yale School of Public Health in 2019 with a focus on Chronic Disease Epidemiology. Since her arrival at Yale, Dr. Mansour has been working on identifying novel repair biomarkers in blood and urine to better predict long-term kidney and heart disease outcomes after AKI, and improve overall patient care. Her K-23 proposal is focused on understanding the role of a vessel repair pathway, known as the Angiopoietin pathway, in graft outcomes after deceased donor kidney transplantation.

\xa0

A link to Dr. Mansour\u2019s full biography including links to her research and publications is:

Yale Medicine Profile - Dr Sherry Mansour

\xa0

Dr. Wilson grew up in Connecticut, before attending Harvard College where he graduated with honors in biochemistry. He then attended medical school at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, before completing his internship, residency, and fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2012, he received a Masters degree in Clinical Epidemiology, which has informed his research ever since. At Yale since 2014, his goal is using patient-level data and advanced analytics to personalize medicine to each individual patient. He is the creator of the popular online course "Understanding Medical Research: Your Facebook Friend Is Wrong" on the Coursera platform.

A link to Dr. Mansour\u2019s full biography including links to his research and publications is:

Yale Medicine Profile - Dr F Perry Wilson

\xa0

Questions Dr. Mansour and Dr. Wilson are asked:\xa0

\xa0

6:33 Dr Mansour, you did a study a couple years ago at Yale that studied the effects of marathon running on the kidneys.\xa0 Can you explain how the study was conducted and what you found?

\xa0

7:50 So marathon runners have markers like people in the ICU. That sounds horrible. Should we be worried?

\xa0

8:31 Why do runners suffer from Acute Kidney Injury? Is it unique to running? Do swimmers suffer from this too?

\xa0

9:23 Sherry, you said that you just run for fitness, so I assumed you would be a marathon runner since you studied the effects of marathon running on kidneys. Can you tell me why you chose to study marathon runners?

\xa0

10:38 Perry, are you a marathon runner?

\xa0

10:48 Perry, what questions do you have when it comes to kidneys and running? Have you experienced dehydration? Have you tested your own urine after a race?

\xa0

12:13 What role does dehydration, your sweat rate, and sodium play into the types of injuries that the kidneys have after endurance racing?

\xa0

14:28 It\u2019s very difficult and actually not advised to drink the same amount of fluid that you actually lose during a race. What kind of advice would you give for somebody who says, \u201cI know I sweat a lot. How much do I drink? How much salt do I put in my water?\u201d Are these questions that you\u2019ve been able to figure out yet?

\xa0

16:28 Runners, especially older runners, worry about salt because their doctors say they shouldn\u2019t intake a lot of salt if they have high blood pressure. Or if they have other kidney problems, they might have been advised to be on a low salt diet. How does that play into while you\u2019re exercising? Should you continue to not consume much salt just because you\u2019re supposed to be on a low salt diet?

\xa0

17:46 Runners hear a lot about ibuprofen. A lot of people call it Vitamin I and take it when they\u2019re feeling sore. Some people even take it before a race so they won\u2019t feel sore, and we as coaches try to advise against this. Can you talk about the link between ibuprofen and kidney injury?

\xa0

22:08 One of the reasons I wanted to have both of you on the show is because I recently suffered from a kidney stone, something I haven't talked about until today. I\u2019m a healthy, athletic person and did not expect it. It was the worst pain of my life and as an athlete, I'm struggling to find good advice for hydration for kidney stone sufferers.\xa0 Perry,\xa0 can you give me some advice?

\xa0

25:00 Through my research I\u2019ve found that kidney stones are fairly common. Is that correct?

\xa0

25:16 What do kidney stone sufferers have to do as far as exercise goes? I\u2019m absolutely dehydrated at the end of a marathon. Is that more dangerous for me than it would be for someone who doesn\u2019t have a kidney stone history?

\xa0

26:59 I haven\u2019t heard of people talking about how endurance runners and kidney stones interrelates at all, so I think there\u2019s a lot of people out there that are hungry for this advice. Like I said, that\u2019s why I want to have you guys on the show. So we can still run, we can still get a little dehydrated, but our risk is going to be a little higher is what you\u2019re saying?

\xa0

28:21 I think most runners now take Tylenol instead of ibuprofen, which hurts our liver instead of our kidneys. There\u2019s also some evidence that Tylenol actually affects your brain and makes your perception of effort go down. So any time there\u2019s something like that, runners are like, \u201cGive it to me. Give it to me.\u201d

\xa0

29:25 Acute Kidney Injury from marathon running is typically temporary.\xa0 When do we have to worry that something could be wrong and damage could become chronic?

\xa0

31:17 Have you looked at people who you measured right after the race and then looked at them a few days later to see if the damage was resolved?

\xa0

32:15 If you could go back and talk to yourself when you started running, what advice would you give?

\xa0

33:41 Where can listeners connect with you?

\xa0

34:12 Do you know why students at Yale aren\u2019t allowed to run outside?

\xa0

Quotes by Dr. Mansour and Dr. Wilson:

\xa0

\u201cThis urine really we see in the hospital all the time when patients are in the ICU when their blood pressure is really low so we didn\u2019t think that we would see something similar in runners but that was sort of the main finding that kind of surprised us.\u201d (Dr. Mansour)

\xa0

\u201cI wish I were a runner. Every time I do studies with marathon runners, they\u2019re so inspiring, they\u2019re so dedicated. It\u2019s really a great crowd to be around, but I\u2019m just not like that. I don\u2019t have the stamina.\u201d (Dr. Mansour)

\xa0

\u201cThere might not be that much of a correlation between how you feel and what\u2019s going on in your kidneys because I was convinced I was going to see the most terrible stuff based on how I was feeling at the end of that race and my kidneys kind of shrugged it off.\u201d (Dr. Wilson)

\xa0

\u201cA kidney stone is painful but it isn\u2019t going to kill you either, so you have to think about the benefits.\u201d (Dr. Wilson)

Take a Listen on Your Next Run

\xa0

Leave a space for libsyn link

\xa0

Want more awesome interviews and advice? Subscribe to our iTunes channel

Mentioned in this podcast:

Article: Marathons and Kidney Damage: What Runners Should Know

Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community\xa0

RunnersConnect Facebook page

RunnersConnect Focus Classes

email Coach Claire

\xa0

Follow Drs. Mansour and Wilson on:

\xa0

Dr. Mansour on Twitter

Dr. F Perry Wilson on Twitter

We really hope you\u2019ve enjoyed this episode of Run to the Top.

The best way you can show your support of the show is to share this podcast with your family and friends and share it on your Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media channel you use.

The more people who know about the podcast and download the episodes, the more I can reach out to and get top running influencers, to bring them on and share their advice, which hopefully makes the show even more enjoyable for you!