Friday, May 8, 2015

Fibromyalgia and Creatine Supplementation


Ch. R. R. Alves and colleagues published a study: “Creatine Supplementation in Fibromyalgia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Results: „ After the intervention, the creatine group presented higher muscle phosphorylcreatine content when compared with the placebo group (+80.3% versus −2.7%; P = 0.04).” Furthermore, the creatine group presented greater muscle strength in the leg press and chest press exercises and also isometric strength was greater in the creatine group than in the placebo group. “However, no general changes were observed in aerobic conditioning, pain, cognitive function, quality of sleep, and quality of life. Food intake remained unaltered and no side effects were reported.“
Body builders use creatine supplementation to boost muscle growth. So, it isn’t surprising if people, who haven’t trained due to pain, gain something out of a training and may benefit in muscle strength from this supplementation. But muscle strength isn’t the problem in fibromyalgia!

Do fibromyalgia patients need a creatine supplementation? No! The impact on more clinically relevant measures for fibromyalgia, such as aerobic conditioning, pain, cognitive function, quality of sleep, and quality of life had been disappointing as these remained unchanged.

Supplementation of creatine in fibromyalgia patients is a dead end and might stir false hopes. I recommend to stay away from it.



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