Hey guys,
This is my biology research essay and I was hoping for some feed back and what should be fix or improved.
Thank you :)
Abstract
If creatine is known to increase the muscle performance of athletes, ideally, it can also increase muscle performance of neuromuscular and neurological diseases. But, to what extent does creatine help with the treatment of different neuromuscular and neurological diseases. By analyzing the role of creatine in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, Duchenne's muscular dystrophy and stroke, the effects of creatine can be explained by reviewing previous clinical tests and experiments. One study showed that patients with Parkinson's disease that was given creatine improved their biceps strength by 23%, chest strength by 21%, and leg strength by 18%. Therefore, the use of creatine could reduce the effect of Parkinson's disease by increasing muscle movements.
In addition, one research showed that patients with Duchenne's muscular dystrophy that was given creatine increased their maximal muscle contraction by 25%. Which, also illustrates the positive impact creatine can make by preventing the effect of Duchenne's muscular dystrophy. While, another study done by Dr. Friedlander found that mice that had been given creatine for a month experienced a 56 % decrease in brain injury after a stroke, in comparison to mice that had not been fed with creatine. Thus, supporting that creatine can aid in protecting victims from the aftermath of strokes. These statistics foreshadow the impact creatine may have on several neuromuscular and neurological diseases, potentially reversing or weakening the effect of these diseases.
Creatine is a naturally occurring substance found in the heart, brain, liver, and kidneys that is advertised to competitive athletes as a means to increase their performance (Murphy, 2000). Creatine enhances performance by helping the delivery of energy through increased amounts of phosphocreatine in muscles. The polypeptide phosphocreatine (Pcr) delays the production of lactic acid, which postpones exercise fatigue and further produces more energy using reserves in the organs listed above. (Murphy, 2000). If creatine increases energy, it is theoretically possible for it to also improve movement and general mental abilities; these can be translated into treatments for neuromuscular and neurological diseases. The central dilemma extracted from this is that the extent to which creatine helps with the treatment of different neuromuscular and neurological diseases is still unknown. By analyzing the role of creatine in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, Duchenne's muscular dystrophy and stroke this review of clinical test and experiments can explain the positive impacts of creatine.
First and foremost, Parkinson disease is a disorder of the nervous system, which results from the death of dopamine-generating cells due to malformation in the mitochondria. This, in turn, decreases muscular fitness, muscle mass, muscle strength, and increases fatigue (National Institutes of Health, 2007). Studies suggest that creatine can improve the function of the mitochondrion by acting as an antioxidant (National Institutes of Health, 2007). This would prevent damage from compounds that are harmful to cells in the brain, slowing the clinical declination rate of Parkinson's disease.
Hass et al (2007) recruited 20 patients, 17 men and 3 women, who had Parkinson's disease and were taking creatine supplements. As a control, it was made sure that none of them took part in any consistent exercise program in the past 6 months. The participants were tested for 2 weeks during which they faced an intense workout regime to analyze if their strength had increased. The results of the creatine group improved relatively significantly: biceps strength by 23%, chest strength by 21%, and leg strength by 18% (Collins, 2007). Thus, since the cause of death of dopamine cells are due to malformation in the mitochondria. This study shows that using creatine supplements to reduce the abnormalities of mitochondria functioning by increasing adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP) production could prevent damage from compounds that are harmful to cells in the brain. Therefore, creatine has a positive impact in dealing with individuals suffering from Parkinson's disease by slowing down the process.
Furthermore, another disease is Duchenne's muscular dystrophy, which is an X-linked recessive disease that is the result of a mutation in the gene that produces defected dystrophin protein, which causes server muscle wasting (Pearlman and Fielding, 2006). Dystrophin associates with glycoproteins, providing mechanical stability during muscle contraction; hence its deficiency is assumed to result in fragility of the sarcolemma reticulum (membrane of muslce cells) (Kunkel, 1993). Research has shown that increased substrate concentration of creatine increases the activity of creatine kinase, which is responsible for providing more ATP to power the sarcoplasmic reticulum (Pearlman and Fielding, 2006). Therefore, by using the break down of creatine to increase the catabolic production of ATP for powering the sarcoplasmic reticulum, it can aid in allowing an increase in muscle movement by subsequently increasing mitochondrial respiration. This causes phosphocreatine to donate its phosphate group to adenosine di-phosphate, forming ATP, which increases the amount creatine kinase to be used to power the sarcoplasmic reticulum (Pearlman and Fielding, 2006). One study done by Rybalka (2007) on patients with Duchenne's muscular dystrophy shows that when given creatine, their maximal voluntary contraction increased by 25%. Also, the time it took for the patients to become fatigued doubled (Pearlman and Fielding, 2006). Thus, using creatine increased the patients' cellular respiration due to the increased production of mitochondrial respiration, caused by an increase of ATP (energy) to function cellular respiration. Therefore, by using creatine to create more creatine kinase, which can act like a substitution for dystrophine to power the sarcoplasmic reticulum, it is theoretically possible to weaken the damaging effect of the mutated dystrophin gene, or even completely reverse the effect. Therefore, creatine can help handle patients struggling from Duchenne's muscular dystrophy.
Strokes occur when a certain part of the brain has an insufficient supply of blood. There are different levels and locations of the low blood supply to the brain, for example, in the instance of a blood blockage (Editors of Salem Press, 2008). Therefore, creatine can theoretically provide an emergency supply of energy to brain cells in the temporary absence of oxygen during a stroke (Ebsco, 2003). For example, one study done by Dr. Friedlander (2004) found that mice who had been given Creatine for a month experienced a 56 % decrease in brain injury after a stroke, in comparison to the mice that had not been fed the Creatine (Web Weekly, 2004). Furthermore, researchers found that mice that had been on the creatine diets for only one week did not experience the same neuro-protection as the other groups; this suggests that creatine benefits are time-dependent (Web Weekly, 2004). Therefore, a high concentration of creatine in the brain can also reduce the neurological damage and negative effect on muscle functions after a stroke. In short, creatine can help with the after effects of strokes by reducing their damage.
In conclusion, this review of the literature examined the positive processes of creatine treatment for neuromuscular and neurological diseases by evaluating Parkinson's disease, Duchenne's muscular dystrophy and strokes. Analyzing how creatine could halt or reduce further damage, it is evident that it has many great impacts to treatments in neuromuscular and neurological diseases. Nevertheless, creatine research should continue in order to help us better understand the depth of the potential role it can have in treatments for neuromuscular and neurological diseases.
