Over-The-Counter Pain Killers Increase Muscle Mass, Strength During Long-term Re

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Over-The-Counter Pain Killers Increase Muscle Mass, Strength During

Long-term Resistance Training, Study Suggests

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080406153404.htm

Taking daily recommended dosages of ibuprofen and acetaminophen

caused a substantially greater increase over placebo in the amount of

quadriceps muscle mass and muscle strength gained during three months

of regular weight lifting, in a study by physiologists at the Human

Performance Laboratory, Ball State University.

Thirty-six men and women, between 60 and 78 years of age (average age

65), were randomly assigned to daily dosages of either ibuprofen

(such as that in Advil), acetaminophen (such as that in Tylenol), or

a placebo. The dosages were identical to those recommended by the

manufacturers and were selected to most closely mimic what chronic

users of these medicines were likely to be taking. Neither the

volunteers nor the scientists knew who was receiving which treatment

until the end of the study.

All subjects participated in three months of weight training, 15-20

minute sessions conducted in the Human Performance Laboratory three

times per week. The researchers knew from their own and other studies

that training at this intensity and for this time period would

significantly increase muscle mass and strength. They expected the

placebo group to show such increases, as its members did, but they

were surprised to find that the groups using either ibuprofen or

acetaminophen did even better.

An earlier study from the laboratory, measuring muscle metabolism (or

more precisely, muscle protein synthesis, the mechanism through which

new protein is added to muscle), had looked at changes over a 24 hour

period. This " acute " study found that both ibuprofen and

acetaminophen had a negative impact, by blocking a specific enzyme

cyclooxygenase, commonly referred to as COX.

But that study looked at only one day. Over three months, says Dr.

Trappe, the chronic consumption of ibuprofen or acetaminophen during

resistance training appears to have induced intramuscular changes

that enhance the metabolic response to resistance exercise, allowing

the body to add substantially more new protein to muscle.

The amount of change was measured in quadricep muscles using Magnetic

Resonance Imaging (MRI), the gold standard for determining muscle

mass. The researchers now are conducting assays of muscle biopsies

taken before and after the three-month period of resistance training,

in order to understand the metabolic mechanism of the positive

effects of ibuprofen and acetaminophen.

One of the foci of Ball State's Human Performance Laboratory is the

adaptation of the elderly to exercise. Another is the loss of muscle

mass that takes place when astronauts are exposed to long-term

weightlessness. This work has implications for both groups, says Dr.

Trappe.

*This presentation was part of the scientific program of the American

Physiological Society (APS). In addition to Dr. Carroll and Dr.

Trappe, co-authors of the Experimental Biology presentation are

Dickinson, Lemoine, Haus, and Eileen Weinheimer,

graduate students working with Dr. Trappe, and study physician Dr.

Hollon.