Small vibrations can improve bone, increase muscle mass

By AOL Health | Source: AOL Health

Physical exercise is one of the principal recommendations for preventing and treating osteoporosis, but its effects are hard to assess. No one knows exactly how much of what type of exercise is needed to stimulate bone growth or counteract age-related bone loss, and not everyone responds the same way to the same physical activities. Most exercise programs result in modest bone density gains, about 1%–2%, in premenopausal women; in postmenopausal women, bone benefits are generally measured in bone mass preserved, not gained.

Moderate- to high-intensity regimens can work, but few adults can comply with them long-term, and women who have osteoporosis or are frail or disabled simply cannot participate in them. Most patients must rely on long-term drug therapy, but with the exception of parathyroid hormone, these medications don't actually stimulate new bone formation.

A new way to preserve and possibly build new bone involves simply standing for a few minutes a day on a gently oscillating platform the size and shape of a bathroom scale. Research thus far suggests that it can do at least as much for bone density as longer bouts of vigorous exercise, and it appears to strengthen bone literally from the inside out.

Encouraging research

The strategy, which has produced good results in mice, rats, and sheep, is undergoing human trials in the United States and around the world. Such trials are showing that exposure to small, barely perceptible vibrations can prevent bone loss, increase bone mass, and build muscle.

Potential applications include not only osteoporosis treatment and prevention but also therapy for people with muscle- or bone-wasting conditions such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and digestive disorders that rob the body of calcium and other nutrients. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is also interested in vibration therapy as a way to counter the bone loss and muscle atrophy that result from lengthy space flight.

Most of the research on oscillating plate therapy has been led by investigators at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook. They collaborated on a randomized trial carried out at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles involving 48 young women ages 16–21 who had low bone density and were at risk for developing low peak bone mass (and osteoporosis later in life). Half the women were assigned to stand on the oscillating plate for 10 minutes every day for a year; there was no placebo or intervention for the other half.