Muscle Regeneration Improvements

            Muscular Atrophy is when muscles waste away usually because of disuse or malnourishment.  As myofibrils are lost, the muscle fibers shrink in size and capability.  Those with disuse atrophy experience a decrease in nerve impulses traveling to their muscles and also significantly less strength.  However, disuse atrophy is reversible with proper diet and exercise.  Denervation atrophy occurs when the connection from the nerves to the muscles is cut or disrupted.  With this disorder, the muscle, without connection to the nerves, shrinks to one-fourth of its original size within 6 months to 2 years.  Denervation atrophy is not a reversible disorder because the muscle fibers are replaced with fibrous connective tissue.

            However, there is some recent research that has the potential to cure or reverse many muscular disorders and diseases.  Researchers believe that stem cells are the answer.  In the past, the insertion of stem cells into those with muscular disorders has not had a high success rate.  Now, researchers are coupling the use of stem cells with tissue engineering.  This two-pronged process has been tested and results were seen.  The muscle cells began to regenerate and rebuild muscle cells in the body of one who has muscular dystrophy.

            This stem cell research and application can be used to change the lives of those who have been otherwise forced to live with muscular diseases and disorders.  Further testing and reviews are needed of course.  This revolutionary two-pronged idea has the potential to get rid of muscle deficiency altogether.  With more time and further research, perhaps more diseases could be treated or cured with this stem cell insertion and tissue engineering team.  It could free patients from bed, wheelchairs, and walkers!  It could possibly even lead to other tissue regenerations such as organ and limbs.

Sources:

Tortora, Gerard J.  Bryan Derrickson.  A&P; principles of anatomy & physiology 13^th edition.  John Wiley & Sons, inc.  2011.  Chapter 10.2.  Skeletal Muscle Tissue.  Page 331.

BioMed Central Limited. “From degeneration to regeneration: Advances in skeletal muscle engineering.” ScienceDaily, 26 Nov. 2012. Web. 1 Nov. 2013.

Why Do Humans Need To Sleep?

            There are many theories behind the reasons why we need so much sleep. The evolutionary theory states, that the inactivity at night is an adaptation that serves as a survival function, by keeping us out of harm’s way at time when we would be particularly vulnerable. This behavioral theory has evolved to become what we now recognize as sleep. There are factors that can influence sleep patterns such as your physical size, muscle mass, and brain size. While you are sleeping, an anabolic process or building process restores the body’s energy supply that has been depleted throughout the day; also the body starts to repair itself and the muscle tissue is rebuilt and restored.

At times, we do not get nearly enough sleep that our body needs. Sleep deprivation can affect our personality, our sense of humor, we become irritable, and are less tolerant of the world around us. A lack of sleep can also affect our cognitive process. Without the proper amount of sleep and rest, our over worked neurons can no longer function to coordinate information properly. Fifty-six studies were reviewed at the Department of Neurology in Erfurt, Germany, that explored cognitive dysfunctions in people with sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD), insomnia, or narcolepsy. Individual study outcomes were grouped according to neuropsychological functions. Consistent evidence was found for impaired driving simulation performance in SRBD patients. Other neuropsychological functions with less obvious impairment included attention span, divided attention and sustained attention for SRBD patients;  attention span, verbal immediate memory and vigilance for insomniac patients, and  sustained attention, vigilance and driving simulation performance for narcoleptic patients.

There are a lot of ways to improve our sleeping habits such as avoiding caffeine, alcohol (which may bring on sleep, but after a few hours alcohol acts as a stimulant), and avoid smoking too close to bedtime. Always make your bedroom is a quiet, dark, and cool environment, and try to keep a constant sleep schedule. You should also lighten up on evening meals, balance your fluid intake later in the afternoon, and exercise earlier in the day, if possible. There are a few ways to seek treatment for sleep deprivation such as, going to a sleep specialist, who are trained to evaluate individuals for sleep disorders, and taking melatonin, which is a receptor agonist, that has been found effective for short term treatment of insomnia. When we are able to receive eight to nine hours of sleep a night, we are more alert, energetic, and are happier.

http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters

Fulda S., Schulz H. (2001) Cognitive dysfunction in sleep disorders. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 5(6), 423-445

Massaging, what people both young and old know to be a perfect stress reliever and muscle relaxer. Massages can relax tense muscle tissue by improving blood and lymph circulation, helping to bring nutrients to, and take waste products away from, our aching muscles.  Massages are capable of causing changes in your body that can alter the physiological aspects of how your body is structured.

By receiving a massage, that puts your body in the position of changing. These changes can occur in responses, the relaxation and mechanical response. The relaxation response is involuntary and it may occur when someone lightly touches you in a gentle fashion, making you feel relaxed. As studies are currently showing, the relaxation response is responsible for maintaining stable and slow heart and breathing rates, a decrease in blood pressure, an increase of serotonin levels, and a decrease in hormones produced during stress, while also relaxing your muscles.  The second response is the mechanical response, which is what provides alternative sources for blood and lymph circulation along with the relaxation of all the many muscle tissues in your body. Through massaging, your muscle tissues have the opportunity to improve function, which comes from nutrients and oxygen being transported to the muscle cells and wastes being transported away from them.   Swelling, muscle cramps, and spasms that may occur in your muscles all have the opportunity of diminishing during a mechanical response. Massaging can also potentially reduce nerve compression, which positively affects your muscles and organs. Massaging can bring about plenty of positive changes for the muscles and other parts of your body, which is crucial to a long, healthy life.

Let’s face it, there have been times in all of our lives where we longed for a massage to relieve us from the tension, cramps, and aches that were nestled within our muscles. Having a knowledge of the positive effects that the massaging on your body has can lead to a longer span of healthiness for your body. Knowing the encouraging facts about the outcome for frequent massaging on the body is a necessary element of knowledge for the up-keep of our bodies.

Cicetti, Fred. Do Massages Do Anything Besides Relax You? 16 Aug. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.

University of Minnesota. How Does Massage Work? 3 July. 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.

Bell’s palsy is a condition that triggers paralysis on one side of the patient’s face.  In this article a surgeon at A Loyola University Medical Center is trying a new surgical technique to treat Bell’s palsy.  It uses electrical stimulations to regain most of the damaged nerve. Many symptoms are not visible such as loss of ability to taste, pain behind the ear, numbness, increased sensitivity to sounds; while drooling  and the inability to close ones eye are clearly visible.

Leonetti said that most cases can be treated with oral steroids, but if the symptoms persist, he would recommend having surgery. This new technique is called microscopic decompression of the facial nerve. In this surgery the nerve covering is removed so it can swell and an electrical stimulator is used to send a current through the nerve. This in turn jump-starts the nerve to a rapid recovery.

Before the treatment can be administered a doctor must first understand why this condition has affected the patient. Due to modern technology blood tests, MRI’s, or a CT scans are done if the symptoms are not clear. Some potential causes include inflammation of facial nerves due to ear infections or ear surgeries. This new treatment’s results occur much quicker than the traditional way of treating Bell’s palsy.

“New Surgical Technique for Bell’s Palsy Facial Paralysis.” ScienceDaily. 1 Nov. 2013. 1 Nov. 2013 <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130611204432.htm>.

Tortora, Gerard J. Bryan Derrickson. A&P; principles of anatomy & physiology 13^th edition. John Wiley & sons, inc 2011. Chapter 11.A Muscles of the Head That Produce Facial Expressions.

What causes muscle fatigue? Is it simply overexertion, or is there something more? We know what causes muscle contraction. A stimulus is sent from the brain and down through the nerves of the body.  This causes an increase of calcium ions into the sarcoplasm. This overload of calcium causes release channels in the sarcoplasmic reticulum to open. This causes acetylcholine (ACh) to be released into the synaptic cleft between the motor neuron and the motor end plate. The Ach causes sodium channels to open, letting sodium flood into the muscle fiber. The flow makes the inside of muscle more positively charged. This charge triggers and action potential. This muscle action potential then propagates along the sarcolemma into the T tubules. This causes the sarcoplasmic reticulum to release its stored calcium into the sarcoplasm and the muscle fiber contracts (Tortora).

Now although that was a wordy, scientific definition of what is going on the basic things you should take from that is that you need: a stimulus, calcium, acetylcholine, and sodium for a muscle to contract. During muscle contraction and relaxation the influx of sodium and potassium ions are constantly changing. The exact influx of the ions has never been known until recently. Tom Clausen from Aarhus University conducted a study that now gives us some insight into how the ions vary with muscle activity (Rockefeller).

Clausen’s study measured the changes in concentration of sodium and potassium ions in the extensor digitorum longus (ESL) muscles of rats. His study found that when these muscles were stimulated for about five minutes there was a sufficient loss of potassium. This loss would lead to an extracellular concentration that would interfere with further excitation (movement/exercise). This study shows that extracellular concentrations of potassium play a bigger role in muscle fatigue than previously though (Rockefeller).

Although this information does not lead to any solutions for muscle fatigue, it does give us insight into particular channelopathies that affect skeletal muscle such as hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (Rockefeller). This research allows us to look further into muscle fatigue and deeper into how our bodies work. This is particularly helpful insight to a highly complex and important working system of the body.

Rockefeller University Press. “New insights into the mechanics of muscle fatigue.” ScienceDaily, 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.

Tortora G.J. and B. Derrickson. 2012. Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 13^th ed., John Wiley and Sons

The use of anabolic steroids has increased over the years. Steroids, or “roids”, are taken to increase muscle size by increasing the synthesis of proteins in muscle usually during athletic contest. Steroids are very similar to testosterone. The large doses that are taken to produce muscle growth have devastating and damaging side effects. Some of the side effects are liver cancer, kidney damage, increased risk of heart disease, stunted growth, wide mood swings, increased acne, and increased irritability and aggressiveness. Females that take anabolic steroids could experience atrophy of the breast and uterus, menstrual irregularities, sterility, facial hair growth, and deepening of the voice. Males may experience diminished testosterone secretion, atrophy of the testes, sterility, and baldness. (Tortora, 354)

In the article, “Male College Students Believe Taking Performance- Enhancing Drugs for Sports Is More Unethical than Using Stimulants to Improve Grades”, students say that off-label prescription drug use is more effective for success than using steroids. When using steroids or performance enhancers, it is viewed unethical when used in sports, rather than academics. Around 1,200 college freshmen at Penn State University, mainly white, were given two scenarios and asked to answer a questionnaire. One scenario was about a guy named Bill, who was worried about a track meet and did not think that he would improve before the meet, so he took some steroids and actually won the championship race. The second scenario was a college student named Jeff, who had midterms coming up and did not have time to study and was worried about his grade, so he took some Adderall, a prescription stimulant, and scored higher than he thought he would. The students were asked how strongly they agreed or disagreed on four statements, and this is what they replied with. They said that “Bill/Jeff were cheating because they used steroids and Adderall” and also said that “for Bill/Jeff to do well, it was necessary for them to take the drug”. Students were asked if they had ever misused prescriptions stimulants and less than 1% said they had never used steroids, while 8% said they had misused them in the last 12 months. Most of the students said that they were mostly to accept Jeff’s Adderall use over Bill’s steroid use. Knowing this could tackle future preventions for illegal stimulants in the academic world.

I feel that people, mostly high school and college kids, should know this because there are so many people in the world who misuse steroids or prescription drugs, and that is illegal. I feel that males use stimulants to get in higher rank. Even if enhancing drugs are not taken for sports, unless you have a behavioral issue diagnosed by a doctor, you should not take them. I have seen so many guys lose everything they have strived for over using enhancing drugs; it is not worth it.

American Psychological Association (APA). “Male college students believe taking performance-enhancing drugs for sports is more unethical that using stimulants to improve grades.” ScienceDaily, 8 May 2012. Web. 1 Nov. 2013

Tortora G.J. and B. Derrickson, 2012. Principals of Anatomy and Physiology. 13^th ed., John Wiley and Sons