Health Specialist » muscle relaxant

The Relaxed Marathoner is a Winning Runner

Health Specialist — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:35:03 +0000

At the starting line, one can always see the determined faces of runners. Even before they take a single step, they already fix their eyes on the finish line. And in their overwhelming desire to win the race, they sometimes show signs of tension and stress. But if you’re a highly competitive athlete, the tension is just part of the job.

That is why it is already axiomatic for endurance runners and other athletes to have physical strength and endurance, will power, and discipline. It is also part and parcel of their job to encounter a number of physical and health concerns that come as a result of strenuous physical activity.

Long-distance runners, for example, are very prone to fatigue and muscle cramps. Most marathons involve a long-distance run of about 42 kilometers or about 26 miles. These runs can be either on-road or off-road.

The marathon event is actually a centuries-old sporting event that traces its roots to Greek legend about Pheidippides, a soldier who was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens for the purpose of bringing the news about the defeat of the Persians in the Battle of Marathon. It is said that the Greek solider ran all the way from the battlefield to Athens so that he could announce the news of Greek victory as soon as possible. The marathon race was revived during the first modern Olympics in 1896.

It can be said that the marathon run of ancient Greece and the modern-day races share the same thing both runs take a toll on the runner. The training alone is enough to cause physical stress on any runner. Recreational runners usually target a training run of about 32 kilometers while elite marathon runners can have a weekly mileage of at least 160 kilometers.

One can just imagine the sheer pressure put on a runner’s knees and leg muscles. Muscle cramps, which are experienced by most if not all runners and other endurance athletes, is an exercise-induced muscle pain that results from fluid loss and electrolyte imbalance. Overexertion, structural disorders, prolonged sitting, and inappropriate leg or sitting positions can also cause muscle pains. The most commonly affected muscle groups include the back of the leg and calf gastrocnemius; the back of the thigh hamstrings; and the front of the thighs quadriceps. Cramps can be as tolerable as a slight tic or it can be painfully agonizing. Usually lasting only a few seconds to as long as 15 minutes, muscle cramps can become recurring difficulties even for the most well-trained athletes.

Muscle cramps or muscle pain does not only affect runners or athletes. Even people who do not engage in sports may get muscle spasms. In fact, muscle pain is the second most common reason for doctor visits in the United States. But for endurance runners and other athletes who engage in long periods of physical activity, the problem of muscle pain is not only a distinct possibility during training or in an actual event. It can also afflict them at night long after a running event.

To address this problem, most endurance and marathon runners have a doctor or sports therapist as a member of the running team. The medical professional or health care specialist helps monitor the physical condition of the runner. If necessary, the sports therapist may even ask the runner to take a muscle relaxant after a marathon event or during breaks in a long-distance, multi-day running event. The muscle relaxant helps the athlete to regain physical shape by removing muscle tension and pain associated with overexertion. A muscle relaxant like Carisoprodol is often administered to relieve pain and discomfort that comes with muscle sprains, strains, and spasms.

Over the counter muscle relaxants are available although many doctors prefer to give athletes prescription drugs like Carisoprodol. The efficacy of the muscle relaxant is not only important in terms of relieving the pain but also in helping ensure that the runner or athlete is able to complete an event with little or no discomfort. Indeed, the use of a muscle relaxant drug has become a necessity for many athletes who compete to win. It is no longer enough to train and have the right equipment. The availability of medications that will help them conquer pain during a competition or after an event is important to their sports career. Knowing the limitations of the human body, even the most hardy and experienced athletes need to relax their muscles naturally and through appropriately administered medications. Winning a race does not only take strength. Sometimes, a runner must make sure that his muscles are in a relaxed state so that he can push his engine to work all the way to the finish line.

Soma blocks pain sensations between the nerves and the brain

Health Specialist — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:36:00 +0000

What is Soma?

Soma is a muscle relaxer that works by blocking pain sensations between the nerves and the brain.

Soma is used together with rest and physical therapy to treat injuries and other painful musculoskeletal conditions.

Soma may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.
Important information about Soma
This medication may be habit-forming and should be used only by the person it was prescribed for. Soma should never be given to another person, especially someone who has a history of drug abuse or addiction. Keep the medication in a secure place where others cannot get to it. You may have withdrawal symptoms when you stop using Soma after using it over a long period of time. Do not stop using Soma suddenly without first talking to your doctor. You may need to use less and less before you stop the medication completely. Soma can cause side effects that may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be awake and alert. Avoid drinking alcohol. It can increase drowsiness and dizziness caused by Soma.
Before taking Soma
Do not use Soma if you are allergic to carisoprodol or meprobamate Equanil, Miltown, or if you have porphyria.

Before using Soma, tell your doctor if you are allergic to any drugs, or if you have

epilepsy or other seizure disorder;
liver disease; or
kidney disease.

If you have any of these conditions, you may need a dose adjustment or special tests to safely take Soma.
Soma may be habit-forming and should be used only by the person it was prescribed for. Soma should never be given to another person, especially someone who has a history of drug abuse or addiction. Keep the medication in a secure place where others cannot get to it. You may have withdrawal symptoms when you stop using Soma after using it over a long period of time. Withdrawal symptoms include stomach pain, sleep problems, headache, nausea, and seizure convulsions. Do not stop using Soma suddenly without first talking to your doctor. You may need to use less and less before you stop the medication completely. Soma may be harmful to an unborn baby. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during treatment. It is not known whether Soma passes into breast milk or if it could harm a nursing baby. Do not use this medication without telling your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby. Do not give this medication to a child younger than 12 years old..
How should I take Soma?

Take Soma exactly as it was prescribed for you. Do not take the medication in larger amounts, or take it for longer than recommended by your doctor. Follow the directions on your prescription label.
Take each dose with a full glass of water. Store Soma at room temperature away from moisture and heat.
What happens if I miss a dose?

Take the missed dose as soon as you remember. If it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and take the medicine at the next regularly scheduled time. Do not take extra medicine to make up the missed dose.
What happens if I overdose?
Seek emergency medical attention if you think you have used too much of this medicine.

Overdose symptoms may include shallow breathing, vision problems, fast heartbeat, confusion, hallucinations seeing things, muscle stiffness, feeling light-headed, fainting, or seizure convulsions.
What should I avoid while taking Soma?
Soma can cause side effects that may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be awake and alert. Cold or allergy medicine, narcotic pain medicine, sleeping pills, muscle relaxers, and medicine for seizures, depression or anxiety can add to sleepiness caused by Soma. Tell your doctor if you regularly use any of these other medicines. Avoid drinking alcohol. It can increase drowsiness and dizziness caused by Soma.

Baclofen The Dependable Skeletal Muscle Relaxant for MS Patients

Health Specialist — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:48:00 +0000

Multiple Sclerosis MS affects approximately 250,000 to 350,000 people in the United States. This estimate suggests that approximately 200 new cases are diagnosed each week with this disease. This degenerative marked by gradual deterioration of organs and cells along with loss of function disease affects more women than men, and most people show the first signs between the ages 20 to 40 years old. It is chronic and potentially incapacitating.

Multiple Sclerosis MS affects the central nervous system or the brain and spinal cord areas in the body. Believed to be an autoimmune disorder, MS is a condition where the patients immune system produces antibodies against their own body. These antibodies and WBCs white blood corpuscles are then directed against proteins in the myelin sheath. The myelin sheath is made up of fatty substances that protect the nerve fibers in the spinal cord and brain. This attack usually results in injury and swelling to the myelin sheath and ultimately to the surrounding nerves. The injury leads to scarring or sclerosis in multiple areas of the central immune system, thus damaging the nerve signals and control muscle coordination. The disease also eventually impairs vision and muscular strength.
The nature of MS is unpredictable and it can vary in severity from person to person. While some patients who suffer from the said disease only experience mild illness, other MS cases can also lead to permanent disability. Treatments for MS can help in modifying the course of this illness while relieving symptoms.
Determining the real cause of MS still remains elusive even if scientists have already learned a great deal about MS in recent years. It is known that MS is a form of autoimmune disease — one in which the body, through its immune system, launches a defensive attack against its own tissues. In the case of MS, it is the nerve-insulating myelin that comes under assault. Such assaults may be linked to an unknown environmental trigger such as a virus infection.
Pain and spasticity are two of the most common symptoms from which people with MS suffer. Spasticity is a muscle problem characterized by tight or stiff muscles that may interfere with voluntary muscle movements. Spasticity is a muscle problem characterized by tight or stiff muscles that may interfere with voluntary muscle movements. A recent survey of members by the MS Society found that 54 reported pain as a current symptom, while 74 reported experiencing spasticity. The importance of these symptoms is not simply because of their frequency, but also because of the impact they have on the patient’s daily life. As the disease progresses, so does the spasticity, resulting in muscle spasms, immobility, disturbed sleep, and pain. Disability resulting from spasticity often forces patients to need extensive nursing care.
Pain can be caused by a variety of factors including spasticity itself, in addition to neuronal damage due to the disease process. Not uncommonly, it may be musculoskeletal in origin, arising as a result of abnormal posture following the disability caused by MS.
There are several treatment options for MS. However, one medication that was commonly cited by different and numerous research is called Baclofen. This medication can help decrease the spasticity of MS patients. Baclofen is a muscle relaxant commonly used to decrease spasticity related to spinal cord injuries, or other neurological diseases such as MS.
Spasticity is caused by an imbalance of electrical signals coming from the spinal cord through the nerves to the muscle. This imbalance causes the muscle to become hyperactive, resulting in involuntary spasms. Baclofen works by restoring the normal balance and reducing muscle hyperactivity. In this way, it allows for more normal muscle movements.
Baclofen, also known under the brand name Lioresal, can be taken as a pill or delivered directly into the intrathecal space, an area in the spine. The space contains the cerebrospinal fluid CSF which surrounds the spinal cord and nerve roots. Most often, MS patients receive intrathecal baclofen, since oral Baclofen can cause unpleasant side effects. Since the medication does not circulate throughout the body, only tiny doses are required to be effective, therefore the side effects are minimal. Through intrathecal Baclofen it will deliver the right drug right to the target spot in the spinal cord.
In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision the MS patient and the doctor will make. Skeletal muscle relaxants such as Baclofen are used to relax certain muscles in the body and relieve the stiffness, pain, and discomfort for MS patients. However, these medicines do not take the place of rest, exercise or physical therapy, or other treatment that a doctor may recommend.

The Medical Idiot’s Guide To Zombies

Health Specialist — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:03:00 +0000

The process of zombification has long been the source of many horror stories. Everything from George Romero’s Living Dead movies to horror master H. P. Lovecraft’s Herbert West Reanimator have put their own twist on the zombie theme. However, most people do not realize that zombies are, in an odd way, quite real.

In Haiti, it is illegal to turn someone into a zombie, which may seem like a ridiculous law. Haitians, however, are raised to understand not the pop culture concept of the zombie, but a creature far closer to the original Voodoo myths that inspired them. There is a particular formula used by Haitian witch doctors for the zombification process, which usually involves the use of very potent, highly concentrated doses of muscle relaxant.

Muscle relaxants and potent anesthetics are the key components of any formula for making someone a zombie. In the context of Western medicine, a concoction is made with the use of a variety of herbs and toxins, most of which involve puffer fish poison or in some territories just the right amount of hemlock, to force the body into a very specific state of immobility. The body’s vital signs drop and will appear dead on all standard means of checking, with the pulse only detectable by sensitive instruments. This process is achieved through a number of means, but the use of a powerful muscle relaxant and anesthetic tend to be necessary for this to work. Without a muscle relaxant and an anesthetic, the body apparently fails to achieve the death-like state that forces family members to bury the loved one. Once this is done, the witch doctor simply has to be there at the right time to dig out the victim as his body recovers from the drug and claim him as a zombie servant.

There are, of course, side effects associated with the muscle relaxant-based zombification formula. For one thing, the flow of blood from the heart to the brain among other parts of the body is severely reduced by this, with some of the more potent potions stopping the flow of blood in the body altogether for a short period of time. The time of this reduced flow is minimal, but when combined with the lack of oxygen due to being buried alive, there can be extensive damage done to the brain. According to modern science and research teams dispatched to Haiti to study the illegal practice, most zombies experience a number of debilitating problems once revived, such as poor hand-eye coordination and problems with cognitive processes. Muscular atrophy has also been noted as a problem early on, though most victims of the procedure recover in time. It is the mental functions and the impaired mental capacity that are the most prominent problems, aside from the very high risk of death.

Death, like in pop culture zombies, is very much a key component of the Haitian zombie scene. There is the fact that the person is made to appear dead by the witch doctor’s foul brew, though a truly discerning medical examination can determine that he is not. The next one is the fact that, culturally, such people will be regarded by friends and family as dead and will avoid association with them. Being buried alive also carries great risk, especially if the witch doctor does not dig up the victim before he suffocates. Finally, there is the very real risk that the witch doctor’s formula was flawed, with too much of the muscle relaxant or anesthetic, resulting in death.