Rhabdo is Rare, But those Affected Fare Bad!

Rhabdo Can be Life-Threatening

People go crazy over workouts and physical fitness at one stage in their life and during this period, they give their 100% to physical activity exerting themselves beyond their maximum limit. Most health clubs these days offer discounted rates or festive bonanza offers in their membership prices and include dynamic exercises such as whole-body workouts, CrossFit, high-intensity interval training, functional training, etc.
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Trainers are pumped up with energy and they pass over such high spiritedness to their clients. They push you to a whole new level of exercising and motivate you all through the schedule. These high-intensity workouts benefit some clients but affect many of them causing a life-threatening disease called rhabdo.

Rhabdomyolysis
Rhabdomyolysis is the breakdown of muscle tissue whose contents enter the bloodstream rapidly. Myoglobin is released when muscle cells burst and too much of this protein results in kidney damage.  Myoglobin is a local oxygen reservoir that serves to supply oxygen during periods of high-intensity muscular activity.

What Causes Rhabdo?
High-intensity workout/training is one of the many causes of rhabdo. Other critical ones include:

• Medication side effects
• Alcohol use
• Infections
• Drug overdose
• Trauma or crush injury
• Genetic muscle diseases
• Seizures or muscle tremors
• Low phosphate levels
• Ischemia or death of muscle tissue
  
  

Symptoms
Major symptoms of rhabdo include dark or red-colored urine, overall body weakness, muscle tenderness, weakness of affected muscle, decreased urine output and muscle stiffening or aching. Other symptoms include fatigue, joint pain, seizures and weight gain.

Diagnosis & Treatment
The aching muscles are thoroughly checked for tenderness alongside a urine and blood test to confirm rhabdomyolysis. The doctor might check for normal levels of the following elements that are required for muscle and kidney health:

1. Creatinine kinase, an enzyme found in skeletal muscles, brain and heart.
2. Myoglobin (a protein that’s a byproduct of muscle breakdown) content in blood and urine.
3. Potassium leakage from injured muscles and bone.
4. Creatinine in blood and urine. Creatinine is a breakdown product created by muscles and removed from the body via kidneys.
   
   

Increase in levels of any of these substances are clear indications of muscle damage. Any of us might be excited with the prospective advantages over a new physical activity and wish to excel in it! Your attitude is right, but it is also necessary to intimate your trainer about your body type and present activity level. Where do you stand in terms of fitness and health concerns? Beyond all these, you need to adopt healthier food and beverage habits:

• Keep yourself well-hydrated by drinking plenty of fresh water. This prevents problems and helps flush your kidneys. Dehydration is dangerous, especially during summer and water is not the only option for preventing dehydration. There are a host of other healthy hydration options given at www.firsteatright.com amongst which you can choose your most-preferred one.
• Never use anti-inflammatory medications without your doctor’s knowledge when you have rhabdo as these medicines aggravate kidney damage.
• Restrict/stay away from alcohol consumption as it may dehydrate you due to its diuretic property.
  
  

In most cases, rhabdo is treatable at home with plenty of fluid intake. If the physician doubts a kidney problem or if muscle enzyme levels are high, IV fluids may be needed and rarely, the patient might even be hospitalized and kept under observation. Bicarbonates are prescribed usually after diagnosis.

Be Strong-willed
Exercising is fun, entertaining and enjoyable when you focus on it considering your body cues. Some trainers love to show fast-paced results and keep drilling you to the point of exhaustion. A good trainer is one who gets to know your body well in due course and adjusts exercise routines to match your fitness level. He/she slowly and consistently introduces new exercises and challenges to your body until you start functioning better and faster.