Muscle Atrophy - Potential Treatment

Potential Treatment

Muscle atrophy can be opposed by the signaling pathways which induce muscle hypertrophy, or an increase in muscle size. Therefore one way in which exercise induces an increase in muscle mass is to downregulate the pathways which have the opposite effect.

One important rehabilitation tool for muscle atrophy includes the use of functional electrical stimulation to stimulate the muscles. This has seen a large amount of success in the rehabilitation of paraplegic patients.

Since the absence of muscle-building amino acids can contribute to muscle wasting (that which is torn down must be rebuilt with like material), amino acid therapy may be helpful for regenerating damaged or atrophied muscle tissue. The branched-chain amino acids or BCAAs (leucine, isoleucine, and valine) are critical to this process, in addition to lysine and other amino acids.

In severe cases of muscular atrophy, the use of an anabolic steroid such as methandrostenolone is administered to patients as a potential cure. A novel class of drugs, called SARM (selective adrenerge receptor modulators) are being investigating with promising results. They would have less side-effects, while still promoting muscle and bone tissue growth and regeneration. These claims are, however, yet to be confirmed in larger clinical trials.