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  • Prevent and treat cramps – "It's the Nerve"
  • beej
    Full Member

    Saw a link to this on Twitter, downloaded the PDF.

    It’s a sports product developed by Nobel Prize winning neuroscientist (2003 apparently) that’s based on the theory that cramp is caused by overstimulation and overfiring of the nervous system. It’s similar to the “pickle juice” treatments, and thought to work by shocking the nervous system in order to cause a calming response, stopping the over-firing muscle nerves.

    Or something. I’m not a neuroscientist.

    PDF is worth a read as the site doesn’t tell you much. You need to enter an email address to download it, but you can use any old address.

    http://itsthenerve.com/

    torsoinalake
    Free Member

    In before the Nuun tablet brigade.

    Outside Magazine has been punting this hard, but as yet there doesn’t seem to be a product to buy, so I guess they are lining up a backer for some serious money.

    shermer75
    Free Member

    Is there any chane you can tell us what it is? I’m not sure if I want to give them my email

    perthmtb
    Free Member

    Haven’t read the link, but I damaged my sciatic nerve a couple of years ago and have been getting random cramps in the foot and calf that nerve serves ever since, so I would tend to believe that cramps have more to do with nerves than anything else.

    beej
    Full Member

    From the PDF. There’s lots more in there as well.

    Simply put, cramps are caused by an excessive firing of motor neurons in the spinal cord, not by the muscle. Under normal circumstances, motor neurons control muscle contractions without incident. But when the nerves are destabilized, painful cramps can occur.

    Rod reasoned that the nervous system could also be recruited to prevent muscle cramps. Then, Rod heard stories about bicyclists and some athletic teams using pickle juice to treat muscle cramps. He also heard about marathon runners who used mustard stirred into warm water to relieve their cramps. How could it possibly work? What did pickle juice and mustard have in common? All of a sudden it occurred to him that maybe it was the activating effect of pickle juice and mustard on TRP channels in the mouth. Rod made the connection that no one else had: It’s the stimulation of the sensory nerves in the mouth, throat, esophagus and stomach that triggers a response from the nervous system and calms down the motor neurons in the spinal cord. How amazing!

    This was Rod’s “Aha!” moment: The nervous system could be prodded, using those very receptors, to cue a cascade of nerve stimulation, also involving pathways from the mouth, throat, esophagus, and stomach, projecting signals to the motor neurons of the spinal cord.

    The anecdotal stories of pickle juice and mustard led Rod to develop a scientifically proven formula using more effective ingredients. After years of lab research, the result of Rod’s persistence is a breakthrough sports beverage, which will be available to the public in 2016. Rod has developed the first clinically proven remedy, to prevent and treat muscle cramps.

    The formulation includes a proprietary blend of active ingredients and organic sugar and lime juice. Focused on the body’s neural wiring, Rod’s proprietary formulation is the foundation of a new category in nutrition: Neuromuscular Performance.

    beej
    Full Member

    The Outside Magazine article is a good summary too. They’ve already raised $86m so I think this is the start of the product awareness campaign pre-launch rather than going after more funding.

    forzafkawi
    Free Member

    Having suffered with cramp on and off for years on long events like century sportives, I have tried all sorts of things but eventually came to the following conclusions (for me).

    1. Not caused by dehydration.
    2. Made worse by overhydration (not sure why this should be)
    3. Electrolytes make absolutely no difference (although the Nuun/Zero tab proponents would swear otherwise)
    4. Ambient temperatures make no difference (which links to points 1 & 2)
    5. Stretching does alleviate the immediate cramping but is not a total solution.

    In recent years having read a lot about it and realising that science had no answer, I started to wonder why the pickle juice seemed to work for some people. Interestingly, I never tried it myself but started to use a mind-over-matter approach on myself whenever cramp started.

    This entailed a meditative technique I learned whereby you concentrate on the area cramping and actually try and relax it with your mind. Not very scientific I know but it actually did seem to work. In the absence of any other remedy it’s what I have been using in the last couple of years but the findings linked to in this thread struck a note with me.

    It will be interesting to see what the product is when launched and start to see if the feedback from “crampers” is largely positive or just another placebo effect.

    chickenman
    Full Member

    After my MIL found me under her dining table howling in pain after an 11 hour ride she offered me Crampex; works a bloody treat (I think its been withdrawn from sale though!). The active ingredient seems to be nicotine!!!

    paulosoxo
    Free Member

    My nervous system in buggered, and I get horrific cramps during the night, and also if I over extend my leg (as in hoping a puddle 11 mile into the Great North Run this year, that saw me on my back in the gutter screaming like a baby)

    If anyone can fix this, I’ll be delighted.

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    nicotinic acid, chickenman; different to nicotine
    It’s actually a form of niacin (B vitamin, no. 3 maybe)

    It (and things like it – inositol nicotinate, Hexopal)supposedly works for cramp in some people – some are licensed for claudication (cramps due to poor blood supply, as they’re vasodilators) but no longer recommneded for that.

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