shirl
05-20-2008, 08:29 AM
A:Night cramp is something from which a great many people occasionally suffer -- and they don't easily forget it. Even the healthiest people may get a short, sharp pain in the legs after a strenuous day. Many older people can bring it on by making powerful stretching movements whilst lying down in bed.
If this sort of night cramp becomes a real nuisance, then maybe all you need to do is avoid over-stretching and take tablets containing quinine sulphate at bedtime. A very small number of patients, however, cannot take quinine without becoming dizzy or getting buzzing in the ears.
Cramp in the lower limbs in the daytime and in younger, active patients can be very distressing and is more serious. It has the rather clumsy name of 'intermittent claudications'.
The patient first complains of aching legs after exercise. It may be slight, but gradually becomes more pronounced. Then the pain is not merely an ache, but a definite, crippling cramp, so severe that the patient cannot stand after much walking.
This is caused by narrowed arteries and often starts in the 30s.
It generally means that the arteries everywhere in the body have become narrowed and blood cannot reach the muscles fast enough when they are in use. The heart muscles may be equally affected. It affects men far more than women and attacks are more common in cold weather, or even after sitting in a chair at the office in a draught. It is a slightly hereditary complaint.
There is no absolute cure. The patient learns to regulate the amount of exercise he or she can comfortably take.
No drugs offer
complete relief.
- Rowena Walsh
If this sort of night cramp becomes a real nuisance, then maybe all you need to do is avoid over-stretching and take tablets containing quinine sulphate at bedtime. A very small number of patients, however, cannot take quinine without becoming dizzy or getting buzzing in the ears.
Cramp in the lower limbs in the daytime and in younger, active patients can be very distressing and is more serious. It has the rather clumsy name of 'intermittent claudications'.
The patient first complains of aching legs after exercise. It may be slight, but gradually becomes more pronounced. Then the pain is not merely an ache, but a definite, crippling cramp, so severe that the patient cannot stand after much walking.
This is caused by narrowed arteries and often starts in the 30s.
It generally means that the arteries everywhere in the body have become narrowed and blood cannot reach the muscles fast enough when they are in use. The heart muscles may be equally affected. It affects men far more than women and attacks are more common in cold weather, or even after sitting in a chair at the office in a draught. It is a slightly hereditary complaint.
There is no absolute cure. The patient learns to regulate the amount of exercise he or she can comfortably take.
No drugs offer
complete relief.
- Rowena Walsh