TO YOUR HEALTH: Power drug could knock brain damage on the head

* Scientists in the United States believe creatine, a substance associated with budding sportsmen and women keen to improve strength
and stamina, could prevent brain damage.

According to a team of researchers at the University of Kentucky who have been testing the substance on rats, creatine could provide a level of protection against head injuries not offered by any other drug.

At the moment the substance is commonly used by athletes and other professional sports stars like footballers in a bid to build muscles. Though not illegal, its use is sometimes frowned upon.

However, if the research on the rats is anything to go by, the scientists in Kentucky believe it could provide a useful tool in the
fight against head injuries in contact sports like American Football and Rugby.

The scientists claim rats fed a diet containing creatine for four weeks suffered half as much brain damage when sustaining head injuries as rats fed a normal diet.

In a separate experiment mice fed creatine for five days before suffering a head injury sustained 36% less brain damage.

Professor Stephen Scheff, the man at the helm of the research, believes the findings could have benefits for professional sportsmen
and women.

"Athletes may be gaining a neuroprotective benefit inadvertently by chronically supplementing their diet with creatine," he confirmed.

The findings of the report have been published in the Annals of Neurology and suggest secondary damage - which normally occurs several days after an injury is sustained - can be prevented by creatine.

However, not everyone is convinced that taking creatine to protect against injury is a good idea.

Nick Fellows, the general manager of the British Olympic Medical Centre, offered some words of caution to those excited by the
findings.

"The danger is people will see this research and think that creatine ought to be taken if they want to protect themselves," he argued.

Fellow's claims misuse of creatine is a big enough problem already.

"Some people are using too high a dose and some are using it for too long - what we find is that athletes are actually very ignorant about the basics of nutrition," he explained.

"It is not possible to be sure what the long term side-effects of creatine use may be."

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