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A 22-year old male visits hos local clinic complaining of severe cramps in…
A 22-year old male visits hos local clinic complaining of severe cramps in his legs, thighs, buttocks, back and shoulders. He states that for the past 3 weeks he has been taking part in extreme weight training and cardio. He also states that he is not gaining any muscle mass, but has adapted a "vegan" diet and drinking a gallon of water a day. Our patient has also not been consuming sports drinks, tofu or soy because he doesn't like them. Lastly he has been skipping meals this whole time. Ultimately our patient wants to know why he is cramping and loosing muscle mass.
Upstream Causes
Specific factors that are contributing to our patients muscle loss include: He has not been ingesting ANY protein or sustenance to nourish his muscle recovery and gain. The fibers in our muscles need both protein to resist fatigue and calcium to function. He is receiving neither. He is skipping meals and not receiving electrolytes needed for muscle recovery. He states that he is working even harder since he has received no results, which in turn results in further muscle mass loss due to no incoming nourishment. An ever losing fight.
How: His muscles are receiving no calcium and protein to keep muscles healthy and promote muscle gain. And if he is not fueling his muscles in these intense workouts, his body will continue to use the protein in his muscles as fuel to function, causing the shrinking of muscles. His body is basically starving, being accelerated by his intense workouts.
Some Pros linked with his diet: Its good that he is drinking a gallon of water a day so he for the most part is not becoming dehydrated. Cutting back on drinks loaded with electrolytes could be beneficial on lowering the sugar count in the blood, but he is loosing out on all the essential ions needed for muscle contraction.
Cons: Our patient is receiving not near enough protein, carbs, and calcium needed for his new lifestyle.
Downstream Effects
If our young patient continues on his rigorous routine at the pace he is, without a high protein diet, the chances are pretty high that he could literally exhaust himself to death. And the solution is simple, eat good everyday, paired with plenty of sleep for recovery.
The effect of his new regiment could put drastic stress on other essential systems of the body. The nueromuscular junction could not operate correctly due to lack of nourishment, in turn causing the muscle contraction to not execute correctly or even at all. This could cause the central nervous system to not send correct signals to nerves, causing twitches and spasms.His gastrointestinal is obviously going to be deprived of nutrients from him eating barely anything.
Background Information
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Anatomy of Muscle
The smallest unit of the muscle is its cell, the myofilament.
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Hundreds of these muscle fibers are grouped together to form what is called a fascicle, a group of muscle fibers.
When all these fascicles are grouped together, they form what we know as a muscle.
Beginning with the the most external of the connective tissue sheaths that support cells and reinforce whole muscle, the Deep fascia: dense irregular connective tissue external to the to epimysium and separates individual muscles.
Endomysium: loose areolar connective tissue surrounding and electrically insulating each muscle fiber.
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Epimysium: dense irregular connective tissue surrounding entire muscle; may blend with deep or superficial fascia.