From the National Kidney Foundation . . .

First thing in my e-mail this Wednesday morning was from Ellie Schlam, who happens to be the director of external communications for the National Kidney Foundation.

You want facts on rhabdomyolysis, here they are:

Rhabdomyolysis Facts from the National Kidney Foundation

Rhabdomyolysis is a condition in which there is destruction of muscle and the pigment in muscle that makes it red along with other factors lead to kidney injury.

Rhabdomyolysis can occur with repeated muscle trauma or heavy exercise, especially in hot weather, crush injury, in association with infections, medication use, following a seizure or any long-term compression situation, for instance, lying flat on an operating room table for a long period of time.

Rhabdomyolysis seems to be potentiated in some individuals by decreased fluid status.

Acute kidney injury can occur as a result of rhabdomyolysis.

The initial treatment is to aggressively restore fluid status and to monitor the level of muscle injury by following laboratory tests such creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and aldolase along with following markers of kidney function and acid-base status.

Some patients may take time to recover and may need dialysis but most cases recover with appropriate medical treatment and do not require dialysis.

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Thanks for the e-mail. Very much appreciated.