Run Well by Juliet McGrattan (reading books for 5 year olds .TXT) 📕

but had a first degree relative who was affected, then this may be significant. If you’re concerned about the likelihood of inherited cancer, then speak to your GP. There is strong evidence that regular exercise can reduce the risk of developing bowel cancer by 25 to 50 per cent. This is a striking figure. Exercise speeds up the passage of faeces through the gut and reduces the amount of contact time that any carcinogens (cancer forming substances) have with the bowel wall. Exercise also causes the release of natural killer cells and lowers inflammation levels in the body, both of which help to reduce cancer risk (see here). So making a commitment to running regularly is a powerful way to lower your risk of this common condition, whether you have a family history of it or not.

Q I’ve got piles which hurt and bleed. Has running caused this and what can I do?

A Running may have caused or worsened your piles (haemorrhoids) if you’ve been spending many hours running long distances. Both vigorous activity and being on your feet for a long time increase pressure on the blood vessels in the rectum. Piles are essentially swollen veins and fleshy tissue which form small lumps, either inside or just outside your anus. There are many causes of piles, other than endurance running. Child birth, straining on the toilet and sitting for long periods of time are frequently to blame. You may also have a genetic tendency to develop them. It’s crucial to make sure you are well-hydrated and avoid constipation. Exercise prevents constipation, but be sure to drink plenty of fluids after a run to fully rehydrate. A diet rich in fibre will help smooth the transit of stools through your gut. Piles usually shrink and disappear on their own, but speak to your pharmacist about creams you can use to soothe them and reduce any itching in the meantime. Apply a product like Sudocrem to help protect the delicate piles from sweat and chafing while you run, and make sure you clean and dry the area thoroughly after running. Blood from the back passage can be due to other more serious causes so don’t rely on self-diagnosis and see your GP. Don’t feel embarrassed to get it checked out – they’ve seen it all before.

Did you know?

The time it takes food to go from entering your mouth to passing out of your anus as waste is called ‘transit time’. Transit time varies hugely between individuals and is influenced by what foods and fluids have been consumed, but is approximately 24 to 72 hours. Most of this time is spent in the large bowel. Women have a longer bowel transit time than men and children have a shorter one than adults.

Top tips for a healthy runner’s guts

• Keep a food diary and use trial and error to help solve gut issues.

• Drink plenty of fluid and rehydrate properly after runs to avoid constipation.

• Assist your digestion by avoiding over eating or eating in a rush. Chew your food properly and allow enough time between eating and running.

• See your doctor if you have a persistent change in your bowel habit or any blood loss from your back passage.

• Eat a healthy varied diet with plenty of whole grain fibre (unless you have IBS and find whole grains aggravate it).

• Look after your gut microbiome. Keep the good bacteria in your gut happy by eating plenty of plant-based foods and live yoghurts, and avoiding excess alcohol.

• Manage your stress levels.

• Don’t smoke. It increases your risk of acid reflux and stomach cancer.

FURTHER HELP AND ADVICE

Coeliac UK: www.coeliac.org.uk

Crohn’s and Colitis UK: www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk

The IBS Network: www.theibsnetwork.org

NHS IBS diet video guide: www.nhs.uk/conditions/irritable-bowel-syndrome-ibs/ibs-diet-video-guide/

Drinkaware: www.drinkaware.co.uk

Macmillan Cancer Support www.macmillan.org.uk

Chapter 5

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The Urinary System

As runners, we’re repeatedly told how important it is for us to stay hydrated, so the urinary system, where water is both retained and lost from the body, is crucial for us. Understanding how that system works and being aware of potential problems will help us to run safely and healthily. So whether it’s a leaky bladder, a troublesome prostate or concerns about kidney damage, this chapter has it covered. Grab a big drink of water and read on!

The urinary system includes your kidneys, bladder, ureters (tubes from kidney to bladder) and urethra (tube from bladder to the outside). Its main functions are to control the fluid balance of the body and to produce urine to remove toxins.

Around 150 litres of blood pass through your kidneys each day. Most people have two kidneys but it’s possible to live normally and healthily with just one. You may have heard the kidneys’ role described as ‘cleaning the blood’ and this paints a perfect picture. Kidneys contain about a million nephrons. These are filtering units which sort through the blood, taking out the bad bits and keeping the good. The way they do this is mind-blowingly clever. Blood arrives at the kidneys in the renal artery. The pressure in this artery is pretty high and the blood is pushed forcefully through the first part of the nephron, called the glomerulus. This is a knot of thin-walled blood vessels that act as a sieve. Big molecules such as blood cells and proteins remain in the blood while smaller ones such as urea (a waste product), water and ions like sodium slip through the sieve and into the kidney tubule to form urine. However, not all the small molecules are bad, so the kidney needs to selectively take back the ones it needs. The kidney tubule is long and runs close to the blood vessels so water, glucose and other nutrients can be reabsorbed back into the blood, ensuring only unwanted waste makes it to the urine.

Kidneys also have an important role in maintaining blood pressure. They detect pressure, fluid and body salt levels and can secrete a substance called renin, which triggers a system called the renin-angiotensin system. If blood