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Creatine |
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Creatine
Creatine is made in the liver and is found in meats. It also helps in releasing energy through the increased production and circulation of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), therefore competitive athletes could benefit from the use of creatine. How This Supplement Works in Your Body:
Where This Supplement is Found: How to Use: Available as: Powder, chewable tablets, and capsules Cautions: Don’t take if you: Possess any allergies to creatine Consult your doctor if you:
Pregnancy: No risks are known. Do not use. No risks are known. Do not use. Infants and Children: It is hazardous to treat infants and children under 2 with any supplement. Do not take with any prescription or nonprescription drugs without consulting your doctor or pharmacist. Little is known about the effects of long-term use. Safe dosage: Due to the deaths of three athletes while using creatine, The U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) has deemed creatine unsafe, and it is
suggested that it be used with caution. Currently, the optimal dosage
amounts are not known. Creatine, as a product, is marketed as a dietary
supplement.
Toxicity: Side Effects: Signs and symptoms :
Creatine Protects Against Damage from Brain Injury Creatine, a food supplement frequently used by professional and amateur athletes, may prevent brain damage following traumatic brain injury, according to a new research study. Creatine is an amino acid produced naturally in the liver, kidney and pancreas and is used as a way to store energy. Many athletes now use creatine as a dietary supplement to increase muscle mass, strength, and the recovery time of muscles between bursts of activity. Each year about 7 million people in North America experience traumatic brain injuries (TBI), the most common of which are concussions, caused by motor vehicle accidents, falls, assaults and sports-related activities. Of these injuries, about 300,000 are due to sports or recreational activities, particularly in the following sports:
These concussions can result in subdural hematomas (bleeding under a membrane surrounding the brain), loss of cognitive function or even death. TBI causes both primary and secondary damage.
The cause of the secondary injury is not well understood, but appears to be associated with disruption of the regulation of calcium levels in brain cells following injury. Regulation of calcium levels is crucial to mitochondrial function and to proper adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis and use. ATP is a molecule that is present in all living cells and operates as the energy source for the majority of the chemical reactions which take place in cells.
Creatine Supplementation a Potential Treatment for ALS Dietary supplementation with creatine may be a new therapeutic option for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS), if experimental findings hold true. In a mouse model of the disorder, creatine proved more effective than the drug riluzole in extending survival. Survival was extended by 13 days with 1% creatine and 26 days with 2% creatine, which is better than the improvement with riluzole, which extends survival by 13 days in this model," the scientists report. Creatine supplementation also resulted in a dose-dependent improvement in motor performance and protected mice from loss of both motor neurons and substantia nigra neurons at 120 days of age. Nature Medicine March 1999;5:347-350.The Baycol Recall: How Safe Is Your Statin? The decision last week by the German company Bayer AG to withdraw the cholesterol-lowering statin drug Baycol from the market after it was linked to 31 deaths left 700,000 Americans scrambling to find a new drug. It also left the millions who are taking other statins wondering whether the entire class of medications is safe. Experts expect most Baycol users to be put on one of the five statins that remain on the market. But like Baycol, those drugs are linked to the same rare muscle weakness, known as myositis, which occurs in about 1 in 1,000 statin users, according to James Cleeman, director of the National Cholesterol Education Program at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. That condition occasionally progresses to rhabdomyolysis -- a complete breakdown of muscle cells that can lead to kidney failure and death. How many cases occur is not known, because of limited post-market surveillance by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Even so, Cleeman says the benefits of statins "far outweigh the risks. People taking Baycol need to talk to their doctor about what drug they should switch to. And people taking other statins should continue to take them because they are many, many times more beneficial" than they are risky. But the Baycol experience illustrates the growing potential for medical complications and drug interactions as Americans increasingly rely on numerous pharmaceuticals to control chronic conditions such as elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, arthritis and diabetes. In about a third of the Baycol cases, deaths occurred among people who also took gemfibrozil, a drug used to lower triglyceride levels. Other reports in the scientific literature link combinations of statins and other drugs, including warfarin (used to prevent blood clotting), ketoconazole (an antifungal drug) and clarithromycin (an antibiotic) to rhabdomyolysis. Even the experts are struggling to sort out the extent of the problem. "Who knows what the risks are?" says pharmacologist and physician Raymond Woosley, vice president at the University of Arizona's Health Sciences Center in Tucson. "You can find out on the Internet how many suitcases are lost in air travel, but who knows how many people are harmed by drugs?" Consumer advocate Sidney Wolfe, director of the Public Citizen Health Research Group, believes statin complications may be greater than previously thought. He and his group are reviewing FDA statin data from the past three years and plan to petition the agency to require all statin drug labels to feature a more explicit warning about the side effects. Until the facts are more clear, here is what you need to know if you take Baycol -- or any statin: Any of them can cause myositis. Some experts believe that pravastatin (Pravachol) and fluvastatin (Lescol) may have less potential for drug interactions, but the data aren't sufficient to declare one drug safer or more dangerous than the others. Watch carefully for muscle tenderness or weakness. Although muscle weakness occurs only rarely, given the 12 million statin prescriptions written yearly in the United States, that works out to thousands of cases. Look for "feelings of achiness or weakness that can be localized or diffuse and can occur independent of exercise," says Sidney Smith, chief science officer of the American Heart Association. Fever can be another symptom of muscle weakness. Seek immediate medical attention if your urine turns brown -- a symptom of muscle proteins' being excreted through the kidneys. Ask about getting a blood test. Liver function blood tests are routinely performed before statins are started and again 10 to 12 weeks later to ensure no problem is emerging. But you need another blood test -- either creatine kinase (CK) or creatine phosphokinase (CPK) -- to monitor whether muscle cells are breaking down. Experts say this test should be performed if any muscle weakness is experienced. Some also believe that the test should be used routinely to screen for muscle weakness, but this remains controversial. Tell your doctor what other medications you take. You've heard this before, but it's absolutely crucial with the statins. Deaths have been reported not only in people who also took Baycol with gemfibrozil, but in those who took other statins with other drugs, including cyclosporin. Don't forget to tell your doctor if you take any over-the-counter medications, dietary supplements or herbal or botanical substances. Washington Post August 14, 2001; Page HE03
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