A novel non-traditional physical therapy method is available for advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients that do not respond well to medications such as L-dopamine. Scientists from the Sun Life Financial Movement Disorders Research and Rehabilitation Centre from Ontario, Canada have shown that short term whole body vibration therapy significantly improves the clinical symptoms (loss of gait, tremors and akinesia) of PD patients. In this clinical study, a sample population of 40 PD patients were subject to intensive therapy for a few weeks using a Physioacoustic Chair, an sophisticated device containing speakers that are strategically placed throughout the chair in order to deliver programmed low frequency sound waves throughout the body of the patient.
This study is remarkable in the sense that acoustic therapy had a significant impact on the well being and quality of life of PD patients. In brief, the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), gait assessments and upper limb control tests showed significant improvements on gait stability and posture, increased stepping time and speed on the peg-board task, a significant decrease in tremors and less rigidity in PD patients receiving whole body vibration therapy compared to a control group that received no therapy. More importantly, this study showed that whole body vibration therapy may also be applied to PD patients that do not respond well to L-dopamine medication or deep brain stimulation, a complicated risky surgery that involves delivering mild electrical shocks to the brain via implanted electrodes. The latter technique is used as a last resort to stabilize tremors and rigidity in PD patients.

Whole body acoustic stimulation vs. conventional physical therapy for treating PD

Before this study, another previous study conducted about a year ago showed that whole vibration therapy is even more effective in reversing many of the clinical symptoms of PD patients compared to conventional physical therapy. Specifically, this particular study showed that whole body vibration therapy improved equilibrium and gait four weeks after undergoing an intensive three week regimen consisting of 15 minutes a day for five days a week.
Remarkably, this study quantitatively also suggests that whole body vibration therapy is more efficient (25% more efficient) than conventional physical therapy for partially reversing clinical symptoms in PD patients that do not respond well to L-dopamine. It will be interesting to know whether a combined therapy that uses both whole body and conventional intervention techniques has an additive/ synergistic positive effect in reversing clinical PD symptoms compared to single treatment intervention.

Brief background on whole body vibration therapy.

The technology used for conventional physical therapeutic interventions of PD patients have included the use of treadmills, different optical and acoustic devices, balance/ gait training devices and low impact exercise machines. On the other hand, the concept and practice of whole body vibration therapy is not novel since this technique has been used by athletes as part of a routine exercise to loose weight, improve muscle tone and increase muscle strength.
Whole body vibration therapy was initially postulated and developed by Jean Martin Charcot, who also developed a vibration chair many decades ago! There are currently a few devices currently in the market that have been tweaked and redesigned with from other existing prototypes. Some of the most well known whole body vibrational devices are sold by xxxx and is used for many applications including relaxation therapy, strength training and muscle toning, and for physical therapy.

The machine looks like a typical workout machine with arm rests, a bottom platform, and a console that allows a user to program a variety of amplitude and frequency settings (18-28 Hz). Once a patient stands on top of the platform and grabs the arm rests, he/she may receive a short session of either low frequency sound waves that allow for muscle relaxation while higher amplitude and frequency settings is used for increasing muscle tone and contraction.
Whole body vibration therapy has also been used in the past to treat patients affected by neuromuscular debilitating and neurodegenerative disorders such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, cerebral palsy, Huntington’s chorea, and other movement disorders. It is not known how whole body acoustic therapy works in Parkinson’s disease patients but it is believed that high vibrational frequencies help to partially restore some of the sensory perception (proprioception) that is lost during the progression of the disease and is also used to enhance muscle coordination, a physical trait that is lost during the progression of PD. Finally, high frequency sound waves delivered via physicoacoustic devices has been shown to improve blood flow, electrical conductivity and metabolism of muscle tissue.

Tyra Banks demonstrates whole body vibration on her show with a volunteer.

She weighed the volunteer before and after…. after just 10 minutes of whole body vibration she had lost a pound! Check it out!

[youtube kJgwMDgz-5s]

Whole Body Vibration was featured on a very special episode of daytime television’s new hit The Doctors. On the show FBE demonstrates how their popular Whole Body Vibration Machines burn calories, strengthen bone, build muscle, improve posture, etc. etc. Fran Drescher was a special guest on this episode. Watch her vibrate!

Duration : 0:4:34

[youtube KviOYEGpkmg]

Many studies have been conducted to investigate whether osteoporosis can be prevented or even reversed using whole body vibration therapy.

copyright: Jackie Cooper 2010

Check out the studies below showing the effects of whole body vibration when measured in controlled experiments:

Study Investigate and compare the effects of 24 weeks of Whole Body Vibration Exercise (WBVE) and Fitness Training on body compostion and muscle strength:

Results a significant strength gain both exercise groups compared with a control group. WBVE group increased their strength by 7-25%?Roelents et al (2004b)

Study: Investigate and compare the effects of 24 weeks of WBVE and Fitness Training on knee extension strength, speed of movement and countermovement jump performance

Results: ?static and dynamic knee extensor strength increased significantly as did speed of movement and jump height for both groups. Changes were observable after 12 weeks of training.?Roelents et al (2004a)

Study:
Investigate the effects of 2 weeks of WBVE

Results:
Increase in muscle strength among the WBV group of 28%. Salvarani et al (2003)

Study Investigate and compare the effects of 24 weeks of WBVE and Fitness Training on knee rmovement jump performance.

Results Static and dynamic knee extensor strength increased significantly as did speed of movement and jump height for both groups. Changes were observable after 12 weeks of training. Roelents et al (2004a)

Study: Investigate the effects of 2 weeks of WBVE

Results: Increase in muscle strength among the WBV group of 28%. Salvarani et al (2003)

Troy Flanagan, Director of Sport Science for the teams says that they will be using whole body vibration platforms in the warm up area at the base of the race hill at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.  They’ll be using this technology to warm up immediately prior to their races.

Flanagan believes that this will be an important factor in their success.

“We find the machine incredibly useful for waking up the neurological system and applying loads through the body that we just can’t get from traditional weight training.“

The tests were done on women suffering from fibromyalgia. Loss of balance is a common symptom with fibromyalgia.  Whole body vibration has been shown to help improve balance and have a strongly positive impact on fibromyalgia.

However until now, there have been no intensive studies using whole body vibration on fibromyalgia patients. According to the Reuters article, a research team led by Dr. Narcis Gusi, )University of Extremadura in Caceres) did tests with 41 women suffering from fibromyalgia.  The women’s ages ranged from 41 to 65, and were selected randomly for the whole body vibration exercise tests. The 20 women in the control group received usual care without whole body vibration exercise therapy.

The intervention involved 3 sessions per week for 12 weeks, with a tilt platform providing low-frequency (12.5 Hertz) anteroposterior vibration. Each session included a 10-minute warm-up of slow walking followed by six repetitions of vibration for up to 60 seconds each.

This means that the subjects received a total of 6 minutes of whole body vibration exercise therapy.

The researchers discovered that the women receiving whole body vibration therapy has an improvement of 36% in the dynamic balance index but there was no improvement in the control group who did not receive whole body vibration therapy.

Women with the worst balance and heaviest weight at baseline had the greatest improvements

In their March 16th online report in Arthritis Care & Research, the researchers say the tilt vibration therapy has the potential “to help reduce bone mass loss and improve strength and speed, which are critical for reacting and preventing stumbles and falls.”

For further details see the article in www.chiroeco.com

(Vibetronix Whole Body Vibration Exercise Machine provides the same therapy as used in these tests)

Osteoporosis is becoming increasingly common.  It especially plagues post-menopausal women and people who lead sedentary lives.

The primary cause of osteoporosis is the leaching of calcium from the bones by the body itself. Many people’s lifestyles and diets result in their bodies being in an acidic PH rather than a balanced PH. This means that the blood chemistry is out of whack and is too acidic.

This sets off a natural reaction. In an attempt to balance the body’s PH, tissue  such as muscles and organs send out a ‘request’ for alkaline input from wherever such alkaline content is stored.  The body then draws from alkaline reserves in the liver, but once this reserve is depleted, alkaline content must be found from elsewhere  within the body.  Calcium is alkaline and it’s stored in the bones.

The largest bones such as the hips, pelvic bones, femur, wrists and so on, then release the calcium.

The situation is exacerbated by poor diet that heightens acidity as well as lack of exercise.

Once someone has osteoporosis, doctors will often recommend dietary changes as well as lifestyle changes to include exercise.  They will often also recommend medication and calcium supplements.

Osteoporosis reversal can be a long haul. Unless permanent dietary and lifestyle changes are effected, the patient runs the risk of recurring osteoporosis once they’re off medication and supplements.

The quickest and easiest way to help reverse osteoporosis is to exercise - however the degree of exercise that’s necessary may be beyond the scope of many elderly people or anyone who is not used to exercising.

Fortunately, whole body vibration exercise therapy is a safe and easy answer for such people, and has been known to combat osteoporosis without drugs. The oscillation of the platform produces an involuntary muscle contraction known as ‘stretch reflex’.  The speed of the oscillation can produce up to 3,000 contractions per minute.  It accelerates the natural muscle action by 3 to 5 times.

In other words if you walk or run your muscles may contract a few times per second.  By standing on a Vibetronix whole body vibration exercise machine platform, your muscles will perform the same action – but a lot faster.  An added advantage is that this vibration affects all the muscles in the body and you can target specific areas by varying your position on the vibration exercise machine and by varying the speed of the oscillation.

This vibration exercise provides the necessary stress on the bone that causes it to grow in density and therefore in strength.

The beauty of this natural osteoporosis therapy is that it can be done in just 10 minutes a day and results can be seen in as little as six to eight weeks.  It’s ideal for those with limited mobility and it will also improve flexibility, muscle strength and stamina.

Vibetronix whole body vibration exercise machines use triangular oscillating vibration (side to side motion in a see-saw fashion) which is what has been used for all major health studies.  It’s non-invasive and low impact and very safe and gentle on the joints.  Some of the other vibration technologies such as the piston like (vertical up and down) action are too harsh for many users.

To find out more about how whole body vibration exercise therapy can aid in reversing and preventing osteoporosis, please email us or call 604 852 3555.

Good Vibrations

(article published in NASA Science News)

A new treatment under study by NASA-funded doctors could reverse bone loss experienced by astronauts in space.

November 2, 2001: ”Use it or lose it.”

The familiar mantra of fitness buffs applies as much in space as it does on Earth — perhaps more so. The bones and muscles of astronauts, freed from the familiar strains of gravity, can weaken alarmingly. Muscles atrophy relatively quickly, while bones lose mass during prolonged exposures to weightlessness.

Reducing muscle atrophy requires exercise — and lots of it. Astronauts in space spend about two hours each day working out with the aid ofexotic devicesthat rely on springs, elastic, and harnesses to provide resistance and mimic body weight.

Unfortunately, such “countermeasures” have not solved the problem of muscle or bone loss. It’s an ongoing problem for astronauts — and for researchers!

Above: The proper type and amount of exercise is a key to maintaining muscles and cardiovascular fitness in space. But the workouts astronauts have tried so far haven’t yet solved the problem of bone or muscle loss. Image courtesy Johnson Space Center.

But now, perhaps, there could be a solution — at least for bones: NASA-funded scientists suggest that astronauts might prevent bone loss by standing on a lightly vibrating plate for 10 to 20 minutes each day. Held down with the aid of elastic straps, the astronauts could keep working on other tasks while they vibrate.

The same therapy, they say, might eventually be used to treat some of the millions of people who suffer from bone loss, called osteoporosis, here on Earth.

“The vibrations are very slight,” notes Stefan Judex, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, who worked on the research. The plate vibrates at 90 Hz (1 Hz = 1 cycle per second), with each brief oscillation imparting an acceleration equivalent to one-third of Earth’s gravity. “If you touch the plate with your finger, you can feel a very slight vibration,” he added. “If you watch the plate, you cannot see any vibration at all.”

Although the vibrations are subtle they have had a profound effect on bone loss in laboratory animals such as turkeys, sheep, and rats.

Left:Vibration plates such as this one were used for experiments on bone loss involving turkeys, sheep, and rats. Pictured with the turkey is researcher Dr. Clinton Rubin. Photo credit: Cary Wolinsky. This image originally appeared in a National Geographic feature article “Surviving in Space.”

In one study (published in the October 2001 issue ofThe FASEB Journal), only 10 minutes per day of vibration therapy promoted near-normal rates of bone formation in rats thatwere prevented from bearing weight on their hind limbs during the rest of the day. Another group of rats that had their hind legs suspended all day exhibited severely depressed bone formation rates — down by 92% — while rats that spent 10 minutes per day bearing weight, but without the vibration treatment, still had reduced bone formation — 61% less.
These results show that the vibration treatment maintained normal bone formation rates, while brief weight bearing did not.

Clinton Rubin, a professor of biomedical engineering at SUNY Stony Brook and principal investigator for the study, cautions that more experiments are required before scientists can be sure that vibration therapy is effective for people. “Animals are different than humans,” he notes. And even among humans there are important variables, like nutrition and genetic make-up. What works for post-menopausal women (who often suffer from osteoporosis) might not work for astronauts in space.

In a recent “Phase I/II” clinical trial of vibration therapy, researchers applied the treatment to 60 post-menopausal women. Studies using adolescent girls with very low bone density and children with cerebral palsy are also underway.

“The early results from the research with post-menopausal women are very encouraging — but they are preliminary. To determine efficacy, we will need a larger scale clinical trial that runs for a longer period of time,” Rubin says.

A broader “Phase III” clinical trial is currently being organized, which will provide a strong indication of the treatment’s effectiveness for the general population of osteoporosis sufferers.

Right: The primary weight-bearing bones — highlighted here in purple — are also the ones most susceptible to weakening in space. Picture fromHuman Physiology in Space, a curriculum supplement for secondary schools. (Lujan and White)

Whether astronauts would benefit from a vibration-plate regimen is a question that can only be fully answered by conducting experiments in space, Rubin says. Such tests have been proposed, but none are scheduled yet.

Rubin hopes that future experiments will reveal not only whether vibration therapy works, but also why. It’s a bit of a puzzle because the treatment doesn’t comfortably fit within the framework of conventional wisdom: Currently, most bone researchers believe that the stresses placed on bones by, e.g., bearing weight or strong physical exertion, signal the bone-building cells through some unknown chemical trigger to fortify bones. According to this thinking, the remedy for bone loss in space should be exercises that duplicate stresses on our muscles and skeletons experienced during a daily and active life on Earth.

Unfortunately, without the pull of gravity it is very difficult, if not impossible, to duplicate loads routinely experienced by our muscles and bones on Earth. The regimen of exercise that astronauts perform in space has shown some promise as a countermeasure, but not enough to protect long-voyaging astronauts from injury or bone fracture when they are re-exposed to gravity — either here on Earth or on some other planet.

Rubin suggests that perhaps it’s not only a few, large stresses placed on the skeleton that signal bone formation, but also many smaller, high-frequency vibrations applied to bones by flexing muscles during common activities such as standing or walking.

Muscles may appear to pull steadily and constantly when flexing — like the pull of a stretched spring. But muscle contraction is more complex than that. Individual muscle cells in most skeletal muscles can’t provide a sustained pull — they can only apply a quick “twitch.” To create a constant pull, the brain activates groups of muscle cells within a muscle (called “motor units”) in a rapid, repeating pattern.

Above: The interior of bones isn’t completely solid. Instead, it consists of a web of mineral filaments — called “trabeculae” — and cells (not shown in this micrograph). These trabeculae provide structural rigidity while minimizing weight, like the steel cross-members in a crane or a highway sign. Image courtesyNASA Quest .

You can feel these subtle patterns by squatting and resting your hands on your thighs — the slight trembling of your thigh muscles is the sequential contraction of the muscles’ motor units. The frequency of such contraction ranges between 10 and 100 Hz. In comparison, the experiment with rats used a 90 Hz vibration, and the experiments with humans are using 30 Hz vibrations.

“Our hypothesis is that a key regulator of bone mass and morphology are the mechanical stimuli that come out of muscle contractions,” Rubin says. “So instead of these big, intensive deformations of bone, it’s basically lots and lots of little ones [that provide a major stimulus for bone growth].”

“While exercise in space may generate some of these signals, we believe that microgravity essentially extinguishes these signals during the great majority of the day, as postural activity is [markedly reduced compared to here on Earth],” he says. “The vibration treatment generates a much larger signal in this frequency range, and we believe that 10 minutes per day of this higher frequency signal is sufficient to provide a maintenance signal to bone.”

Above: When future astronauts return to Earth after a long voyage to Mars and back — all in reduced or zero gravity — they will need strong bones to once again stride across their home planet. Vibration therapy might be the key. Painting by Pat Rawlings.

“This is a real departure from the accepted theory of how mechanical signals control bone, and it is certainly controversial,” Rubin says.

Nevertheless, it might work. Good vibrations — unexpected and controversial — could be the key to healthy bones on Earth and beyond.

Editor’s note: Exercises in space using devices that mimic body weight and exert stress on the musculoskeletal system have not yet succeeded in eliminating muscle and bone loss. However, caution researchers, the type, intensity and duration of exercise that humans perform here on Earth has not yet been duplicated in space.

Web Links

NASA’s Office of Physical and Biological Research – tackling puzzles like osteoporosis through space research.

Subscribers to the FASEB Journal can read Dr. Clinton’s original researchhere.

“Good Vibrations” May Prevent Bone Loss in Space – NASA press release about the research featured in this article.

Space Bones – Science@NASA article: Weightlessness sure looks like a lot of fun, but prolonged exposure to zero-G in space can have some negative side effects — like the weakening of human bones!

Gravity Hurts (So Good)– Science@NASA article: Strange things can happen to the human body when people venture into space — and the familiar pull of gravity vanishes.

Dr. Clinton Rubin — Professor, Chair of Department of Biomedical Engineering. SUNY Stony Brook.

National Space Biomedical Research Institute– home page.

Q&A about osteoporosis– from the American Medical Women’s Association

Bone Loss research group– webpage for the division of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute studying bone loss in space. Also has links to other divisions of NSBRI that deal with different medical issues related to space travel.

Prevention of Bone Loss During Manned Space Flight– information about the Vanderbilt University research discussed in this article.

Sub-regional Assessment of Bone Loss– fact sheet for an experiment on bone loss conducted on the International Space Station during Expedition Two. Information on this experiment from NASA’s Johnson Space Center can also be found here .

Medical benefits of NASA research on bone loss– information on how research to solve the mystery of bone loss in space helps to advance the treatment of osteoporosis.

A Boon for Bone Research– a medical tool for measuring bone stiffness without using radiation was developed for researching bone loss in space, but it is also proving useful for diagnosing bone loss here on the ground.

Calcium Kinetics During Spaceflight– technical information about how calcium is regulated in the body, both on the ground and in space. From NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Bone Function– from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute.

Investigation of bone growth in space– from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute.

Biotechnology research in microgravity– from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

More links on osteoporosis– from the National Aging Information Center

Here are some abstracts from independent studies conducted on the effects of whole body vibration exercise on humans.  To view these studies,  please click on the link.  Either the file will automatically download or it will open another link window.  Click on that link and the file should automatically download to your computer.  If you have any trouble, please let us know using the comment section below, or email us.

Acute physical effects of wbv

Adaptive responses of skeletal muscle to wbv

Overview of studies of long term wbv exercise

Overview of studies of short term wbv exercise

Effect of wbv on performance and balance

Effect of wbv on muscular performance, balance and bone

Effect of wbv on incontinence

Hormonal responses to wbv in men

Influence of wbv on mechanical behaviour of skeletal muscle

Treatment of chronic lower back pain with wbv

New trends in training science

International journal of sports medicine study

Comparison of strength increase after wbv / resistance training

University of Texas – Medical Branch study

Harnessing electric and magnetic fields for healing and health