Show 1054: The Scientific Explanation for a Weird Remedy

For years, we've been hearing from listeners who swallow a shotglass of pickle juice or a spoonful of yellow mustard to make a muscle cramp disappear. They often report relief within a few minutes. How could such a weird remedy work so quickly to alleviate muscle contraction?

Muscle Cramps Strike at Sea:

Neurobiologists Rod McKinnon (a Nobel Prize winner) and Bruce Bean were kayaking miles off Cape Cod when they were struck with muscle cramps. Neither of them was dehydrated or depleted of electrolytes. So why did cramps strike at such an inopportune time?

Once they got back to land, the pair started investigating the hypotheses of why muscle cramps happen and what can be done to reverse them. Dr. Bean explains on the show how they came up with an alternate hypothesis.

The Genesis of Hotshot:

Their exploration led them to test a remedy they came up with that they call Hotshot. It is now available to the general public at teamHotShot.com  and will soon be available on Amazon.

After we hear from Bruce Bean, we'll explore some other home remedies that are favorites of People's Pharmacy listeners. We don't have scientific explanations for most of them-yet. When will they be investigated? Do you have a favorite weird remedy you'd like to know more about?

This Week's Guest:

Bruce Palmer Bean, PhD, is the Robert Winthrop Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School.