Today a woman gave us a lecture that included a story about a marathon she ran. During this marathon, she didn't drink any water because "she doesn't drink water when she exercises." She also took Vioxx, a drug that has since been taken off the market in Canada because it has been found to cause extreme cardiac side effects. Vioxx is a Cox-2 inhibitor, which, long story short, causes vasodilation.
Does this sound like a bad idea? It must be...otherwise I wouldn't have anything to post about...Let's look at the perfect storm of problems she created for herself...
She ran a marathon, which means she lost a lot of fluid, through sweat. She didn't replenish these fluids because water and exercise don't mix for her. This lack of fluid would work to lower her blood pressure. She also took Vioxx, which causes vasodilation, which leads to lower blood pressure also. Thus...you guessed it...she had REALLY low blood pressure. Low blood pressure means less blood filtration occurred at the kidneys. Less blood filtration means toxins built up...
At the end of the marathon her blood pressure was 90/60 (120/80 is normal) and her serum creatinine was 230 mmol/L (65 mmol/L is normal for her).
Here's the kicker...she's a nephrologist (kidney doctor). She did all this because she wanted to run an experiment...on herself. That's all well and good...but if you want to do that, you probably shouldn't be your OWN doctor. I doubt she would even subject anyone else to these experimental conditions because they are (I'm pretty sure!) relatively dangerous. Seems like it would be a good idea to have another doctor there to tell you when you're going too far...
That being said...she didn't really get sick, her body recovered soon after she rehydrated, but still...
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