SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY
Massage's Mystery Mechanism Unmasked
from ScienceNOW
Massage's healing touch may have more to do with DNA than with good hands. A new study has
revealed for the first time how kneading eases sore muscles--by turning off genes associated with
inflammation and turning on genes that help muscles heal. The discovery contradicts popular
claims that massage squeezes lactic acid or waste products out of tired muscles and could bring
new medical credibility to the practice.
Despite massage's widespread popularity, researchers know surprisingly little about its
effects on muscles. Past studies have managed to show only that a well-administered rub can
reduce pain, but none has ever pinpointed how. The scant evidence makes many physicians unsure,
if not outright skeptical, of the method.
Mark Tarnopolsky, a neurometabolic researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, was
one of those physicians--until he suffered a severe hamstring injury in a waterskiing accident 4
years ago. Massage therapy was part of his rehabilitation regimen, and it was so effective at
easing his pain that he became determined to track down the mechanism that made him feel so good.
"I thought there has to be a physiologic basis for this," he says. "And being a cellular
scientist, my interest's in the cellular basis."
Read more...
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