Time to buff up your knowledge on this next body system! If you guessed it based on that horrible pun – it’s the muscular system.
Responsible for the movement of the human body, 700 muscles make up this system and accounts for almost 40 percent of a person’s body weight. (So, give yourselves a break the next time you step on the scale).
But the system encompasses so much more than its ability to bulk up. When muscles contract, they also help with bodily functions including circulation, digestions, urination, vision, organ protection and even temperature regulation.
Feeling dizzy from this information? Don’t worry. It’s time to stretch it out and get a move on understanding the muscular system.
Diet and Exercise
We all know that lean protein and protein supplements can help build muscle when combined with daily exercise and lifting weights. Here are some facts that will flex your knowledge.
- Not sure how much to lift? The Mayo Clinic says muscles should be tired after 12 to 15 repetitions – you should barely be able to finish the last rep.
- Vegetarian? According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, protein-enriched foods such as eggs, beans and peas, nuts, and soy products such as tofu or veggie burgers provide sufficient protein for a healthy diet.
- Want to incorporate supplements? According to WebMD, with a completely balanced diet, protein powders aren’t always necessary. However, for those wanting to build muscle athletically though, using a soy, casein or whey supplement may help, especially if it contains zero grams of sugar.
- What are your limits? Breaks are good, so don’t get intimidated by other weight lifters. The Mayo Clinic says one full rest day between exercising specific groups will help build muscles more efficiently.
- Do you know your superfoods? Classified as nutrient-rich foods that are high in antioxidants, minerals and other vitamins, some trendy foods such as apple cider vinegar, honey, coconut milk and sea salt actually aren’t super – just plain ol’ healthy.
Conditions and Diseases
From inflammations to cancers and neuromuscular disorders, the muscular system is susceptible to many disorders. Unfortunately, many of the major conditions including Lous Gehrig’s diseases aka ALS and variations of muscular dystrophy do not have solidified research on causes or cures.
But don’t sweat, certain movement disorders are improving with the ever-evolving deep brain stimulation.
“The exercise is just as important, if not more so than the medicine." - Dr. Angela M. Hardwick
Introduced a couple of decades ago, DBS is a neurosurgical procedure where a medical device is implanted and sends electrotonic impulses to certain areas of the brain. Sounds a bit like science-fiction, right? The device is capable of helping people with Parkinson’s disease, tremors, Tourette’s and other neuromuscular disorders control their movements with their brain when the device is stimulated.
“When we turn the device on in the operating room… we can see a patient go from shaking and having a lot of trouble and stiffness to being steady,” says Dr. Angela M. Hardwick, a movement disorder specialist at OhioHealth.
OhioHealth is constantly working to improve DBS and make sure patients only receive the surgery after a thorough physical exam and testing other treatment options like medicine and physical therapy.
Hardwick stresses that DBS is not a cure, and that the best way to delay movement disorders is routine exercise recommended by a physical therapist.
“The exercise is just as important, if not more so than the medicine,” she says. “There were two people that were diagnosed the same day and one exercise and one doesn’t, and five years later they look like two drastically different patients.”
Advancements
Dr. Hardwick performing DBS
As of right now, DBS is often considered the most advanced treatment for movement disorders. Within the past few years, the programming has expanded to allow physicians to steer the energy more accurately to find the correct area of the brain more precisely.
“The finetuning (of the programming) has been unbelievably amazing,” Hardwick says. “I view this as giving patients one more tool to combat their movement disorder. … And often I tell them, ‘This is not the Parkinson’s disease you’re thinking of when you were a kid; we have so many new medications and electrical devices and things on the horizon.’”
Hardwick does mention a new device – the DUOPA infusion pump. It’s basically a peg tube that gives small doses of liquified Parkinson’s medicine throughout the day, producing fewer spikes in pain.
Apart from getting buff, DBS and new advances, Hardwick states one fact about the muscular system that everyone should know.
“’Use it or lose it’ is not just a slogan, we see it every day,” she says “Everything is so tied to the muscular system – if the system is not healthy, the rest of you will suffer, too.”
Lydia Freudenberg is the brand loyalty specialist. Feedback welcome at lfreudenberg@cityscenemediagroup.com.
