Teen Contracts Deadly Illness After Working Out Too Much
HOUSTON (CBS Local) - A teen in Texas is lucky to be alive after what he thought was soreness from the gym turned out to be a deadly illness.
Seventeen-year-old Jared Shamburger first noticed the pain after a strenuous arm workout with his family. The Houston teen told reporters he felt he had to "catch up" with his older brother and father who had been lifting weights for years.
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"It was super-duper sore," Shamburger said, via WWAY. "Everything hurt. It hurt to the touch. It was swollen."
The teen's condition sent his mother into a search online for answers. She soon linked her son's symptoms with a sometimes fatal illness.
"The mama bear in me kind of took over and I called the pediatrician and said, 'I really think my son has rhabdo,'" Judy Shamburger said.
The concerned parent was correct; Jared had contracted Rhabdomyolysis. The illness breaks down muscle tissue and releases a damaging protein into the blood. If left untreated, it can possibly damage the kidneys and cause death in extreme cases. Rhabdo can be triggered by an injury, an infection, or simply by overdoing it at the gym.
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The teen was hospitalized for five days, but is expected to make a full recovery. Doctors say muscle pain, weakness, or severe swelling after an intense workout can all be warning signs that you should go to a hospital for examination.