Pycnogenol's Benefit to Blood Vessels NOW Extends to Muscle Cramps

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By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, August 21, 2006, abstracted from Cramps and Muscular Pain: Prevention with Pycnogenol® in Normal Subjects, Venous Patients, Athletes, Claudicants and in Diabetic Microangiopathy” in the May/June 2006 issue of the Angiology

For more than a year, research has been showing the potential of Pycnogenol, a bark extract from the French maritime pine, in helping maintain blood vessel health by helping deal with lower leg swelling.1 Research then found Pycnogenol to be effective for venous ulcers2 and comparable to prescription drugs for helping venous leg circulation.3

Now a new study4 has found that this property of Pycnogenol enables it to help with muscle cramps. In the study, 66 participants were classified as either normal, athlete, or having venous problems (including type 2 diabetics). All participants were given 50 mg of Pycnogenol four times per day (a total dose of 200 mg per day) or placebo for four weeks and were told to drink at least 1.5 liters of water every day.

At the end of four weeks, the patients were followed up for one week after withdrawal from Pycnogenol. The researchers measured episodes of muscle cramps as the primary measure of Pycnogenol’s effectiveness.

At the end of four weeks, the researchers found Pycnogenol to “significantly decrease” the number of muscle cramp episodes. In participants classified as normal, the average number of muscle cramp episodes was reduced from 4.8 times per week to 1.3 by the fourth week. In participants with venous circulation problems, the number of cramping episodes decreased from 6.3 to 2.6 per week. And in athletes, the number of episodes decreased from 8.6 to 2.4. What’s more, the decrease was still present during the fifth week in all three groups. There was no change in the number of muscle cramp episodes in the placebo group.

For the researchers, “these results suggest that the use of Pycnogenol prevents cramps, muscular pain at rest, and pain after/during exercise in normals, in athletes prone to cramps, and in patients with venous disease.”

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at mailto:ChiroDocPSUalum@msn.com or visiting his website www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com

Reference:
1 Belcaro G. Prevention of venous thrombosis and thrombophlebitis in long-haul flights with pycnogenol. Clin Appl Thromb Hemost. 2004 Oct;10(4):373-7

2 Belcaro, G., M. R. Cesarone, et al. (2005). "Venous ulcers: microcirculatory improvement and faster healing with local use of pycnogenol((r))." Angiology 56(6): 699-705

3 Cesarone MR. Comparison of Pycnogenol and Daflon in treating chronic venous insufficiency: a prospective, controlled study. Clin Appl Thromb Hemost 2006; 12(2): 205-12

4 Vinciguerra G. Cramps and Muscular Pain: Prevention with Pycnogenol® in Normal Subjects, Venous Patients, Athletes, Claudicants and in Diabetic Microangiopathy [Peripheral Vascular Disease] Angiology 2006; 57(3):331-339