Tamara Hew-Butler, associate professor of Exercise & Sports Science in the College of Education, talks on KTRK-HOU (ABC) about her research on hyponatremia.
KTRK-HOU (ABC), 1/10
Professor warns about hyponatremia ahead of Chevron Houston Marathon
Dr. Tamara Hew-Butler, associate professor of exercise and sports science at Wayne State University, was working at the medical tent more than 20 years ago when runners were collapsing, and doctors weren’t sure why at the 1999 Houston Marathon. “It was hot that year, and that was the first year that 4 runners were sent to the emergency room. They were in comas for a week,” she said. The runners were diagnosed with hyponatremia, a condition in which the body has too much water and low sodium. “We didn’t know what that was back then. We were one of the first marathons to actually report this condition,” Hew-Butler said. Hew-Butler left her profession and focused research on the condition after a runner in the 2002 Boston Marathon died from hyponatremia. “We did a series of research that showed some of the runners who were running a little bit slower, they were drinking about 100 cups of fluid during the race. That makes your brain swell, and if it swells too rapidly, it pushes your brain stem out…