What happened to Chris Bumstead? What disease does the bodybuilder have?

Canadian bodybuilder Chris Bumstead is the reigning Mr. Olympia Classic Physique champion, having won the contest three times in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Bumstead impressed everyone with his debut at the coveted tournament in 2017, and as the world's eyes trained on him, things took a wrong turn the following year.

Bodybuilding is an unforgiving sport. It requires intense, heavy, and consistent training. If one's health is compromised, it immediately shows in one's performance. Something similar happened in the case of Chris Bumstead when he was preparing for the 2018 Mr. Olympia.

He revealed that his legs would swell up while training for the competition. When this occurrence became concerning, he got his kidneys checked and found out he was suffering from an autoimmune disease - IGA Nephropathy.

This condition causes inflammation in the kidneys. Although Bumstead is taking medication to tackle the problem, these medications work by suppressing his immune system. This means his health must be monitored even after taking medicines to avoid mishaps.

Chris Bumstead had revealed that there was no immediate cure for his condition. He said:

"It’s something I will be dealing with for my entire life. It doesn’t go away, there’s no cure for it right now."

Bumstead also admitted that he had kidney problems before. In college, he experienced a similar situation that required him to be hospitalized due to a flare-up. Back then, they were unable to identify the actual problem.

In an interview with Barbend in 2021, he touched upon his autoimmune condition. He said:

"In 2018, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. I guess it was always there, but I found out about it in 2018. Since then, I’ve been managing it. Right now, it’s been really good."

His story is certainly inspiring as after facing such a health scare, he went on to win Mr. Olympia Classic Physique the very next year in 2019 and continued his victory run twice.

Bumstead spoke about how the years after his treatment went for him.

"2018 was a rough prep, 2019 was better but not perfect, and 2020 was better than all my preps combined. I was healthy during and after, and my body showed it onstage."

He added that maintaining a healthy lifestyle has positively impacted his life.

"Like we spoke about before, my attention to detail extrapolated when these conditions were presented to me. I had to keep everything really close to perfect and focus on a healthy lifestyle. I’ve done such, and it’s paid off. This is the healthiest year I’ve had in a while."

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Chris Bumstead's painful treatment

Chris Bumstead (Image via Generation Iron)

When Chris Bumstead discovered he had an autoimmune kidney disorder, that was only the beginning of a long, painful road for him.

After the diagnosis, he had to undergo dialysis. The world-class bodybuilder, who had been training for the 2018 Mr. Olympia, was considerably shaken by the news. He further explained how his treatment worked.

"They put in a long needle and slowly froze it close to my kidney."

On his own podcast, he elaborated further on his treatment. He said:

"[The doctors] put like a 16 gauge needle and with a little clip on end."

He added how he felt when the shot was administered.

"It goes in and touches the tip of your kidney that kind of shoots like a gun."

According to Chris Bumstead, his recovery process and treatment were both physically painful and mentally draining. This entire episode of his life was overwhelming for the young bodybuilder, and he could hardly control his emotions when speaking about it.

Thankfully, he soon recovered. And he did not forget to acknowledge that. Bumstead said he was grateful and happy because the incident could have been much more.