No Substitute for Hard Work

 
Athletes boost their energy with
creatine, but for people with ill lungs
it is not helpful; © SXC

Creatine, a popular nutritional supplement renowned for enhancing athletic performance and muscle strength, does not improve exercise outcomes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), says a new study.

The randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind study showed that the effect of creatine (Cr) supplementation was negligible at best among these patients. “We have evidence to suggest Cr uptake into muscles in COPD patients but are unable to explain why an increase in muscle Cr did not enhance training,” wrote the study’s lead author Sarah Deacon.

Cr supplementation has been shown to improve short-burst, high-intensity exercise function in athletes, as well as enhancing isometric muscle strength, lower body endurance and lean body mass in the elderly. To determine whether Cr supplementation could similarly enhance the physical condition of COPD patients, Deacon and co-researchers recruited 100 patients with COPD to either receive Cr or a placebo over the course of a seven week pulmonary rehabilitation programme.

Those who were randomised to the placebo group were give lactose supplements that appeared identical to the Cr-containing supplements. Following a five-day loading period each subject followed maintenance dosing of 3.76 or four gramm of Cr or lactose respectively.

Of the original 100 subjects, 80 successfully completed the study. In both control and Cr groups, there were statistically significant improvements in functional and muscular performance during the loading phase, but no differences were seen between the groups. The Cr group also showed a greater, but non-significant percentage of improvement in the incremental shuttle walking test with loading and after pulmonary rehabilitation, but additional analysis still showed no overall effect between it and the placebo group.

“The most likely explanation is that any benefits of creatine have been submerged by the large training effect of physical training alone,” wrote Deacon. This study, therefore, further validates that there is no substitute for the old-fashioned hard work that is an essential element of pulmonary rehabilitation.

- More about the American Thoracic Society (ATS) at: www.thoracic.org

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