Muscle cramps or muscle spasms can put a painful stop to exercise or wake you from a sound sleep. The informal name of "charley horse" is sometimes used for this sort of cramp. In some cases, muscle spasms can signal vitamin deficiencies or even a disease.
Muscle Cramps
Many things can cause muscle cramps. Overuse, a strain or sprain, or holding one position for a long time can make the muscle contract and stay contracted instead of relaxing. Nocturnal cramps are the kind that occur when you sleep, usually in your calf muscles or toes. This sort of cramp is particularly likely to occur in elderly people. According to the Mayo Clinic, muscle cramps can result from inadequate blood supply, such as when you have narrowing of the arteries that go to your legs. Other possible causes are nerve compression, primarily in the spine; depletion of minerals such as calcium, magnesium or potassium; and vitamin D deficiency.
About Vitamin D
According to The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library, vitamin D is necessary to help your body absorb calcium and phosphorus from the intestine and incorporate them into the bones. Rickets, a disease in which children develop weak bones and deformities, is a result of vitamin D deficiency; muscle spasms are one of the first signs in a child who has rickets. In this case, the spasms are the result of low calcium due to inadequate vitamin D. Adults can develop a similar problem called osteomalacia, or soft bones. As you get older, you actually need more vitamin D, and elderly people are likely to have deficiencies because of decreased exposure to sunlight or low intake. Vitamin D deficiency is treated by giving injections or oral supplements of the vitamin; if muscle spasms are present, calcium is usually added. Most people recover completely with treatment.
Vitamin B Complex and Nocturnal Cramps
Although there was no actual indication of deficiency, another vitamin group, the B complex, was found to relieve nocturnal leg cramps in elderly patients. Patients were divided into two groups, one on a B complex supplement and one on placebo, and asked to report the frequency, duration and severity of their nighttime leg cramps. After three months, 86 percent of the study participants on B complex reported all symptoms improved, while those on placebo had no changes in symptoms. This study was reported in 1998 in the "Journal of Clinical Pharmacology."
Considerations
If you suffer from muscle spasms, and especially if you have limited access to sunlight or foods which contain vitamin D, such as salmon, sardines, mackerel and egg yolk, you might want to consult a health care professional who can perform blood testing and make recommendations for treatment.
References
- "Journal of Clinical Pharmacology"; Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of the Safety and Efficacy of Vitamin B Complex in the Treatment of Nocturnal Leg Cramps in Elderly Patients with Hypertension; P. Chan; et al.; 1998
- The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library; Vitamin D; Larry E. Johnson, M. D. Ph.D.; April 2007
- Medscape Nurses News; Best Evidence Review: Muscle Cramps -- Painful, Common, and Neglected: Current Evidence on Managing Leg Cramps; Charles P. Vega, M.D.; 2010
- MayoClinic.com: Muscle Cramp
- Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Center; Vitamin D; Jane Higdon, Ph.D., et al.; December 2010
