Publications

Authors:

Giuriato, Gaia; Pedrinolla, Anna; Schena, Federico; Venturelli, Massimo

Title:

Muscle cramps: A comparison of the two-leading hypothesis

Year:

2018

Type of item:

Articolo in Rivista

Tipologia ANVUR:

Articolo su rivista

Language:

Inglese

Format:

Elettronico

Referee:

Sì

Name of journal:

JOURNAL OF ELECTROMYOGRAPHY AND KINESIOLOGY

ISSN of journal:

1050-6411

N° Volume:

41

Page numbers:

89-95

Keyword:

Muscle Cramps; EAMC; Neuromuscular hypothesis; Dehydration hypothesis

Short description of contents:

Exercise-Associated Muscle Cramps (EAMC) are a common painful condition of muscle spasms. Despite scientists tried to understand the physiological mechanism that underlies these common phenomena, the etiology is still unclear. From 1900 to nowadays, the scientific world retracted several times the original hypothesis of heat cramps. However, recent literature seems to focus on two potential mechanisms: the dehydration or electrolyte depletion mechanism, and the neuromuscular mechanism. The aim of this review is to examine the recent literature, in terms of physiological mechanisms of EAMC. A comprehensive search was conducted on PubMed and Google Scholar. The following terminology was applied: muscle cramps, neuromuscular hypothesis (or thesis), dehydration hypothesis, Exercise-Associated muscle cramps, nocturnal cramps, muscle spasm, muscle fatigue. From the initial literature of 424 manuscripts, sixty-nine manuscripts were included, analyzed, compared and summarized. Literature analysis indicates that neuromuscular hypothesis may prevails over the initial hypothesis of the dehydration as the trigger event of muscle cramps. New evidence suggests that the action potentials during a muscle cramp are generated in the motoneuron soma, likely accompanied by an imbalance between the rising excitatory drive from the muscle spindles (Ia) and the decreasing inhibitory drive from the Golgi tendon organs. In conclusion, from the latest investigations there seem to be a spinal involvement rather than a peripheral excitation of the motoneurons.

Web page:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1050641118300919
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2018.05.006

Product ID:

102987

Handle IRIS:

11562/981714

Last Modified:

November 28, 2022

Bibliographic citation:

Giuriato, Gaia; Pedrinolla, Anna; Schena, Federico; Venturelli, Massimo, Muscle cramps: A comparison of the two-leading hypothesis «JOURNAL OF ELECTROMYOGRAPHY AND KINESIOLOGY» , vol. 41 , 2018 , pp. 89-95

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