An estimated 600,000 Americans live with polycystic kidney disease or "PKD," according to the federal National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse. Polycystic kidney disease causes multiple cysts, fluid-filled pockets, to form on the kidneys and replace kidney tissue, causing the kidneys to swell up and sometimes fail. If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, one way to help your body is to exercise, including running.
Polycystic Kidney Diagnosis
PKD is usually genetic. In the autosomal dominant form, a child inherits the illness from one parent, but the symptoms do not manifest until adulthood. A child who has the autosomal recessive form must inherit defective genes from both parents for the illness to appear, but the symptoms arrive during childhood. Symptoms include: blood in the urine, pain over a kidney, kidney stones, abdominal pain, a swollen abdomen, high blood pressure, kidney infections and depression from ongoing kidney pain.
PKD in History
King Stefan Bathory of Poland was the first conclusively diagnosed PKD patient, as described by Vincente E. Torres and Michael L. Watson in a 1998 "Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation" journal article. When King Stefan, a burly warrior, died in 1585, his autopsy described his kidneys as being "large like those of a bull, with an uneven and bumpy surface." King Stefan exhibited several warning signs of polycystic kidneys, including a swollen abdomen, depression and relatives who suffered from gout.
Polycystic Kidney Treatment
Your kidney specialist, a nephrologist, will prescribe treatments intended to ward off kidney failure, including diuretics, a low-salt diet, blood pressure medications, antibiotics for urinary tract infections, and draining cysts that become infected or painful. If your kidneys fail, one or both kidneys may be removed, and you will go on dialysis or receive a kidney transplant. Your nephrologist will encourage you to stay as healthy as possible, including getting regular exercise.
PKD and Running
Both the National Kidney Foundation and the PKD Foundation recommend running, walking, swimming, golfing, rowing and biking for PKD patients. But they advise you to avoid contact sports such as football and basketball, because a blow to your enlarged kidneys can cause further damage, including ruptured cysts. You may also wish to avoid horseback riding, cross-country biking, and other repetitive impact sports, as they can cause blood to appear in your urine.
Additional Exercise Precautions
A Medifocus Health essay, "Nutritional and Lifestyle Interventions in Polycystic Kidney Disease," reminds patients to drink lots of water when exercising, because polycystic kidneys have trouble retaining water, so it is easy for you to become dehydrated after running. Consult your nephrologist about any sports drinks and sodas that you consume during or after running, as some contain caffeine, which may increase the size of your kidney cysts, and others have high salt content, which violates your low-salt diet. Some PKD patients develop heart trouble and swollen brain blood vessels or brain aneurysms, so if you experience chest pain or a severe headache during or after exercise, contact your doctor.
References
- National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse: Polycystic Kidney Disease
- Medifocus Health: Nutritional and Lifestyle Interventions in Polycystic Kidney Disease
- "Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation"; Polycystic kidney disease: antiquity to the 20th century; Vincente E. Torres et al.; 1998
- Patient UK: Polycystic Kidney Disease
- National Kidney Foundation: Polycystic Kidney Disease
- PKD Foundation: Living With PKD
