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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

People’s Pharmacy: Gin and tonic eases dancer’s leg cramps

 (The Spokesman-Review)
By Joe Graedon, M.S., and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D. King Features Syndicate

According to the Food and Drug Administration, there are “over 20,000 prescription drug products approved for marketing.” In addition, there are more than 300,000 over-the-counter drug products with 800 active ingredients.

Even though pharmacies are bursting at the seams with medications, there is not one single FDA-approved drug to treat a very common complaint – muscle cramps! If you climb into the pharmacy time machine, though, you will discover that people once used quinine to treat muscle cramps.

This was one of the oldest drugs in the pharmacy, going back to even before the Spanish conquest of the New World. An Augustinian monk wrote about the uses of the “fever tree” in 1633, but he did not discover this miraculous medicine independently. Native healers in Peru had been using cinchona bark to treat fever, especially malaria, for a very long time. The Jesuits recognized cinchona as a good thing and were trading it to Europe by the 1640s.

Quinine was prescribed to help control symptoms of malaria for hundreds of years. By the early 20th century, people in the U.S. were not very worried about malaria. On the other hand, they embraced quinine to ease muscle cramps (Neurology, Feb. 22, 2010). For almost 100 years, doctors prescribed this natural compound to ease involuntary painful muscle contractions.

Quinine was even available over the counter as Legatrin, Quinamm and Q-vel. But in 1994, the FDA banned OTC quinine and followed up in 2006 by eliminating prescription quinine for any use other than malaria. The agency was worried about serious side effects including life-threatening anemia, irregular heart rhythms, visual disturbances, rash, headache and digestive distress.

That action left patients with no FDA-approved treatment options. As a result, people have come up with their own interesting ways to combat cramps. One reader shared her approach:

“I suffer from cramps quite frequently. Since the pills I used to buy over the counter are no longer available, I now take magnesium supplements daily.

“The worst cramps are usually after we’ve been to a dance (ballroom and Latin), so I started drinking gin and tonics during the evening. That didn’t stop the cramps entirely, but they weren’t nearly so prolonged or vicious.

“Last night we went to a dance, and I didn’t have any tonic. I had the worst night of leg cramps ever! Every 45 to 60 minutes, it would hit both feet and calves simultaneously. It was excruciating! I had a total of six bouts during the night, so I have sore legs this morning. Of course, I also feel drained from lack of sleep.

“Despite my husband’s skepticism, I’m going back to gin (with plenty of tonic) at the next dance. In fact, the difference was such that I’m planning to drink some tonic every day from now on.”

What is it about tonic that helped this woman with her leg cramps? Quinine, of course. The FDA has not banned quinine from tonic water.

We even know how quinine works. This bitter compound activates transient receptor potential (TRP) channels. So do vinegar and yellow mustard. When one of these compounds activates the TRP channels, it reverses the inappropriate nerve stimulation causing the cramp.

You can learn more about treating muscle cramps in our “eGuide to Favorite Home Remedies.” This online resource is available under the Health eGuides tab at www.PeoplesPharmacy.com.

In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of King Features, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or email them via their website: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Their newest book is “Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them.”