Effect of Alcohol,Smoking and Water on Muscle Regeneration

Original Editor - Nupur Smit Shah

Top Contributors - Nupur Smit Shah, Lucinda hampton, Gaurav Tyagi and Kim Jackson  

Introduction:[edit | edit source]

The recovery from any injury the regeneration process and the speed of recovery can be greatly affected by the personal habits of the patients. For example; having a good amount of water can speed up the recovery while drinking alcohol and smoking habits can delay the process. Research have proven that the people who consume alcohol chronically, can severely affect their biochemical and pathophysiological derangements.[1]

Effect of Alcohol on the Muscles[edit | edit source]

Imbalance of Skeletal Protein Metabolism due to Alcoholism[edit | edit source]

Muscle protein serves for contractile function and also the metabolic reserve for amino acids which meets the energy needs of other tissues.

  • Chronic alcohol use results in muscle wasting and weakness. It does so by impairing global protein synthesis under basal conditions, and also in response to several anabolic stimuli such as growth factors, muscle contraction and nutrients.[2]
  • Alcoholic use also leads to reduction of lean muscle mass.[3]

Alcoholic Myopathy[edit | edit source]

Acute alcoholic myopathy occurs after few episodes or single episode of binge drinking is extremely rare condition that results in symptoms of myalgia such as muscle weakness, pain, renal impairment with myoglobinuria or rhabdomyolysis(break down of a muscle and release of muscle fiber contents in blood stream).It affects the proximal muscles such as that of shoulder and pelvis, in focal and asymmetric manner.[4] On the other hand chronic alcoholic myopathy results in severe muscle dysfunction and atrophy. Over all alcoholic myopathy leads to gene dysregulation, altered growth hormone production, reduced muscle protein synthesis , increased oxidant stress and muscle derived / circulating catabolic factors.[5]

Effect of Smoking:[edit | edit source]

In the studies of old smokers, there is reduced cross sectional area of type 1 muscle fibers, increased glycolytic capacity, increased oxidative fiber atrophy and decreased expression of nitric oxide synthase. In the studies of young healthy smokers (18-45 years) showed higher levels of oxidative stress and skeletal muscle dysfunction in their dominant lower extremity.

There are various mechanisms on how smoking affects the muscle strength and mass. It increases the levels of carbon monoxide which in turn has a direct effect on respiratory and muscle proteins including hemoglobin, myoglobin and other proteins.

Smoking affects the normal oxygen supply to the mitochondria hence ATP production is affected which in turn affects contractile capacity.[6]

Smoking has proven to impair the synthesis of muscle proteins and to increase the expression of genes linked with impaired muscle maintenance. Researchers have also shown that there is immediate improvement in motor skills .[6]

Smoking is linked with cardiovascular disease. The resting HR is more , and the ability to achieve age predicted HR max is affected.[7]

Effect Of Water Intake[edit | edit source]

Water is a very essential component of the body. Dehydration has severe adverse effects on the body. It can lead to muscle wasting and poor muscle strength. It can also lead to catabolism, anabolic resistance and reduced muscle contractile capacity.[8]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Dekeyser GJ, Clary CR, Otis JS. Chronic alcohol ingestion delays skeletal muscle regeneration following injury. Regenerative medicine research. 2013 Dec;1(1):1-2.
  2. Steiner JL, Lang CH. Dysregulation of skeletal muscle protein metabolism by alcohol. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2015 May 1;308(9):E699-712.
  3. Fernandez‐Solà J, Preedy VR, Lang CH, Gonzalez‐Reimers E, Arno M, Lin JC, Wiseman H, Zhou S, Emery PW, Nakahara T, Hashimoto K. Molecular and cellular events in alcohol‐induced muscle disease. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 2007 Dec;31(12):1953-62.
  4. Simon L, Jolley SE, Molina PE. Alcoholic myopathy: pathophysiologic mechanisms and clinical implications. Alcohol research: current reviews. 2017;38(2):207.
  5. Jung MK, Callaci JJ, Lauing KL, Otis JS, Radek KA, Jones MK, Kovacs EJ. Alcohol exposure and mechanisms of tissue injury and repair. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 2011 Mar;35(3):392-9.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Wiener RC, Findley PA, Shen C, Dwibedi N, Sambamoorthi U. Relationship between smoking status and muscle strength in the United States older adults. Epidemiology and health. 2020;42.
  7. Papathanasiou G, Georgakopoulos D, Papageorgiou E, Zerva E, Michalis L, Kalfakakou V, Evangelou A. Effects of smoking on heart rate at rest and during exercise, and on heart rate recovery, in young adults. Hellenic J Cardiol. 2013 May 1;54(3):168-77.
  8. Lorenzo I, Serra-Prat M, Yébenes JC. The role of water homeostasis in muscle function and frailty: a review. Nutrients. 2019 Aug 9;11(8):1857.