Fitness Friday

Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Inhibit Muscle Growth

A study conducted by the Karolinska Institutet has found a link between long-term use of over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs and inhibited muscle growth.

Anti-inflammatory drugs have become a common occurrence in modern over-the-counter culture. This chronic availability has led to some overuse, due to many turning to drugs instead of exercise, stretching, physical therapy, or other treatment. This chronic use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) has led a research group at Karolinska Institutet to study the effects that the drugs have on muscle growth. The researchers put together a group of healthy males, ages 18-35, and randomly assigned them to two groups. The first group was given a relatively high dose of NSAID (1200mg ibuprofen) and the second group was given a relatively low dose (75mg acetylsalicylic acid) every day for eight weeks. Both groups also took part in supervised weight training focused on the quadriceps 2-3 times per week for eight weeks. 

After the eight weeks, the researchers measured variables that included muscle growth, muscle strength, and anti-inflammatory markers in the quadriceps through processes that included MR imaging. The study found that the muscle growth was twice as large in the group whose dose of NSAID was low compared to the group whose dose was high. This results of this study are important because many young athletes who weight train take NSAIDs to deal with pain while weight training. Armed with new knowledge of the long-term effects of NSAIDs on muscle growth, researchers recommend lowering doses of NSAIDs when trying the improve muscle growth in the gym.