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No effect of creatine on respiratory distress in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

OBJECTIVE : To evaluate the effect of creatine supplementation on the respiratory function of patients with advanced amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). METHODS : Five grams creatine daily were administered orally to 14 patients with definite advanced ALS. For comparison we used a group of 13 patients with a similar respiratory function. All patients performed pulmonary function testing including forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume (FEV 1 ), peak expiratory flow rate (PEF) and maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV) - expressed as percent of the predicted value - at baseline and each month thereafter. RESULTS : There was no significant difference in any measured variable between the treatment group and the control group at 1, 2, 3 and 4 months follow-up. Thereafter the high patient drop-out rate did not allow statistical evaluation. CONCLUSION : The present study did not show any clinically significant, long-term effect of creatine on the function of respiratory muscles in ALS patients with respiratory distress.