What All Runners With Kidneys Need to Hear: Dr Sherry Mansour and Dr F Perry Wilson

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’ve ever run a marathon, the
odds are slightly better than 50% that this has happened to
you. 


But don’t 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.  


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’ve 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.


 


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


Yale Medicine Profile - Dr Sherry Mansour


 


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’s full biography including links to his
research and publications is:


Yale Medicine Profile - Dr F Perry Wilson


 


Questions Dr. Mansour and Dr. Wilson are asked: 


 


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


 


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


 


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


 


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?


 


10:38 Perry, are you a marathon runner?


 


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?


 


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


 


14:28 It’s 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, “I know I
sweat a lot. How much do I drink? How much salt do I put in my
water?” Are these questions that you’ve been able to figure out
yet?


 


16:28 Runners, especially older runners, worry about salt because
their doctors say they shouldn’t 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’re exercising? Should you continue to
not consume much salt just because you’re supposed to be on a low
salt diet?


 


17:46 Runners hear a lot about ibuprofen. A lot of people call it
Vitamin I and take it when they’re feeling sore. Some people even
take it before a race so they won’t feel sore, and we as coaches
try to advise against this. Can you talk about the link between
ibuprofen and kidney injury?


 


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’m 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.  Perry,  can you give me some
advice?


 


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


 


25:16 What do kidney stone sufferers have to do as far as
exercise goes? I’m absolutely dehydrated at the end of a
marathon. Is that more dangerous for me than it would be for
someone who doesn’t have a kidney stone history?


 


26:59 I haven’t heard of people talking about how endurance
runners and kidney stones interrelates at all, so I think there’s
a lot of people out there that are hungry for this advice. Like I
said, that’s 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’re saying?


 


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


 


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


 


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?


 


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


 


33:41 Where can listeners connect with you?


 


34:12 Do you know why students at Yale aren’t allowed to run
outside?


 
Quotes by Dr. Mansour and Dr. Wilson:

 


“This 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’t think that we would see something similar in runners
but that was sort of the main finding that kind of surprised us.”
(Dr. Mansour)


 


“I wish I were a runner. Every time I do studies with marathon
runners, they’re so inspiring, they’re so dedicated. It’s really
a great crowd to be around, but I’m just not like that. I don’t
have the stamina.” (Dr. Mansour)


 


“There might not be that much of a correlation between how you
feel and what’s 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.” (Dr. Wilson)


 


“A kidney stone is painful but it isn’t going to kill you either,
so you have to think about the benefits.” (Dr. Wilson)







Take a Listen on Your Next Run


 


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Mentioned in this podcast:

Article: Marathons and Kidney Damage: What Runners Should Know


Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community 


RunnersConnect Facebook page


RunnersConnect Focus Classes


email Coach Claire


 


Follow Drs. Mansour and Wilson on:


 


Dr. Mansour on Twitter


Dr. F Perry Wilson on Twitter






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