maybe...
Creatine may be beneficial for ALS
NEW YORK, Mar 08 (Reuters Health) -- A new study in mice suggests that
dietary supplementation with the amino acid creatine may be helpful for
patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's
disease.
ALS features the progressive degeneration of motor neurons -- nerves
that help control muscle -- and is fatal within 2 to 5 years of
diagnosis.
Creatine proved more effective than the drug riluzole in extending
survival in mice with an ALS-like disease, report researchers in the
March issue of Nature Medicine. The researchers examined the benefits of
dietary supplementation with 1% or 2% creatine in such mice.
``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 (mice),'' the scientists report.
Creatine supplementation also resulted in an improvement in movement and
protected mice from loss of the motor neurons, as well as nerve cells in
the substantia nigra in the brain, according to Dr. M. Flint Beal, of
Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and
colleagues.
The team suggest that creatine may help to reverse the effects of ALS at
the cellular level by stabilizing enzymes in the mitochondria, the
``powerhouses'' of the cell where energy is stored. By stabilizing these
enzymes, chemicals that assist in energy storage, creatine may slow the
process of cell death.
The fact that creatine protected against the loss of substantia nigra
neurons indicates that the treatment may also benefit patients with
PARKINSON'S disease, Beal and his team propose.
SOURCE: Nature Medicine 1999;5:347-350.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
<[log in to unmask]>
^^^
\ /
\ | / Today’s Research
\\ | // ...Tomorrow’s Cure
\ | /
\|/
```````
