Hi, I called in and talked to Carly, who was most pleasant. I wanted to let you all know that your WBV board is really helping my son with autism. He’s only been using it for about a week, but he is much calmer and able to focus on his academics more. I was lead to try it on him by an article I saw in an in-flight magazine. Perhaps this info will lead you to new uses for your product. It is a group at U WI that used to work with Paul Bach y Rita who have developed a tongue vibration that is helping reverse some of the symptoms of MS. Its thought that the vibration to the brain stem may be causing the brain to regenerate in areas. http://www.americanwaymag.com/ron-husmann-university-of-wisconsin-kildare-yuri-danilov Sincerely, Susan Wald
Vibration biomechanical stimulation as the physiological basis of vibration physical exercises (whole body vibration) causes reflecting muscle contractions like tonic vibration reflex. This type of intervention leads to high intensive stimulation of proprioceptors as called muscle spindles which result in alteration in parameters of activity and developments of human physiological functions. This type of training has broad positive influence on organism. Acceleration physical exercises improve muscle performance, flexibility, nervous function, significantly increase bone mineral density, physiological secretion of anabolic hormones, growth and anti-aging factors; normalize/decrease cortisol as anti-stress effect and are beneficial for balance and mobility as well. It is showed acceleration training caused by vibration stimulus is beneficial for people suffering from osteoporosis and obesity, for rehabilitation of nervous and motor function in patients with Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and stroke. PMID: 19947400 [PubMed - in process]
Shriners Hospital for Children, Montreal, QC, Canada. frauch@shriners.mcgill.ca
Whole-body vibration training is a method for muscle strengthening that is increasingly used in a variety of clinical situations. Key descriptors of vibration devices include the frequency, the amplitude, and the direction of the vibration movement. In a typical vibration session, the user stands on the device in a static position or performs dynamic movements. Most authors hypothesize that vibrations stimulate muscle spindles and alpha-motoneurons, which initiate a muscle contraction. An immediate effect of a non-exhausting vibration session is an increase in muscle power. Most studies of the longer term use of vibration treatment in various disorders have pursued three therapeutic aims: increasing muscle strength, improving balance, and increasing bone mass. In a small pilot trial in children we noted improvements in standing function, lumbar spine bone mineral density, tibial bone mass, and calf muscle cross-sectional area.
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.
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.
What is Parkinson’s disease?
PD is an age-related, relentless, chronic and incurable neurodegenerative disease that affects different regions in the brain (the midbrain) that are enriched with dopaminergic neurons, neurons that produce dopamine. A 90% loss of dopaminergic neurons in the brain results in motor impairment and muscle coordination in the affected patient. These symptoms include but are not limited to postural tremors, instability and loss of gait, slow movement (bradykinesia) or complete loss of movement (akinesia). Many of you are familiar the PD related tremors exhibited by the actor Michael J. Fox, a successful actor famous who starred in the Back to the Future movie sequels and who founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
To this date, there is no cure for this devastating disease that affects a little more than 1% of the total U.S. population. Over more than 90% of cases of PD have no known cause (sporadic cases). The only effective treatment so far is the administration of Levodopa, a synthetic analog of dopamine, and/or dopamine receptor agonists (bromocriptine) which efficiently alleviates tremors and bradykinesia in PD. Adjunct pharmacological therapy include administration of monoamine oxidase inhibitors (selegiline and rasagaline) and Carvidopa (an aromatic decarboxylase inhibitor) with the goal of increasing the levels of dopamine in the brain by inhibiting the enzymes involved in the breakdown of dopamine. Other more sophisticated and extremely expensive treatments include deep brain stimulation, a very complicated procedure that involves electrically inactivating small inhibitory regions of the brain in order to increase excitatory dopaminergic stimuli through electrical stimulations.
What causes Parkinson’s disease?
PD is a multi-factorial disease in which environmental and genetics play a role. One theory that has gained widespread attention in the medical and scientific community is that exposure to environmental factors, such as pesticides and oxidative stress (free radicals), lead to a rapid decline in the function of mitochondria, the energy generators and powerhouses of the cell, in dopaminergic neurons over time. Moreover, certain genes (PINK1, Parkin, DJ-1, alpha-synuclein, and Parkin) which are found to be mutated in PD patients, have been shown to lead to mitochondrial dysfunction, decrease energy production along with an increase in free radicals in animal models of PD.
Jan. 3, 11:45 am. Pittsburgh Medical Technology Examiner Ruben Dagda
Whole-Body Vibration Induced Adaptation in Knee Extensors; Consequences of Initial Strength, Vibration Frequency, and Joint Angle
SAVELBERG, HANS H.C.M.; KEIZER, HANS A.; MEIJER, KENNETH
Abstract
It was hypothesized that both vibration frequency and muscle length modulate the strengthening of muscles that is assumed to result from whole-body vibration (WBV). Length of knee extensor muscles during vibration is affected by the knee joint angle; the lengths of the knee extensors increase with more flexed knee joint angles. In an intervention study 28 volunteers were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups. Each group received 4 weeks of WBV at 1 of 3 different frequencies (20, 27, or 34 Hz) or 1 of 2 different lengths of knee extensors. Voluntary, isometric knee extension moment-angle relationship was determined. Initially, stronger subjects reacted differently to WBV than weaker participants. In stronger subjects knee extension moment did not improve; in the weaker subjects considerable improvements were observed ranging from 10 to 50%. Neither vibration frequency nor muscle length during the intervention affected the improvements. In addition to strength, the knee joint angle at which the maximal joint moment was generated (optimal joint angle) was affected. When trained at short muscle lengths, optimal angle shifted to more extend joint position. WBV training at long muscle lengths tended to induce an opposite shift. The amount of this shift tended to be influenced by vibration frequency; the lower the vibration frequency the larger the shift. Shifts of optimal lengths occurred in both weaker and stronger subjects. This study shows that muscle length during training affects the angle of knee joint at which the maximal extension moment was generated. Moreover, in weaker subjects WBV resulted in higher maximal knee joint extension moments. Vibration frequency and muscle length during vibration did not affect this joint moment gain.
(C) 2007 National Strength and Conditioning Association
Researchers have found one more reason that exercise is good for you: Moderate daily workouts appear to lessen the severity of flu symptoms and even help keep the flu at bay in mice.
Scientists at Iowa State University found mice that regularly ran on a treadmill over a 3 1/2 month period developed less severe symptoms from the flu virus and had less influenza and lower levels of inflammation factors in their lings than those that were not subjected to exercise. Findings appeared in the Nov. 1 print issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
“Perhaps the moderate stress from repeated exposure to moderate exercise might then improve your ability to respond to other stressed, such as influenza,” says Marian Kohut, associate professor of kinesiology at Iowa State and the study’s lead researcher. “We’re continuing to try and find out if that’s true, then what are the mechanisms?”
Iowa State University
Oregonian Article from Wednesday November 4th, 2009
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Standing on a vibrating platform may sound like an odd way to pass the time, but a new research review suggests it may do the muscles and bones some good — particularly in older or sedentary adults.
Writing in the journal Current Sports Medicine Reports, researchers detail the evidence for and against so-called whole body vibration training. WBV involves standing on a platform that sends mild vibratory impulses through the feet and into the rest of the body.
These vibrations activate muscle fibers more efficiently, it is claimed, than conscious contraction of muscles during regular exercise. WBV is often touted as a way to improve muscle power, jump higher or sprint faster.
The tactic is also being studied for its therapeutic potential, such as increasing older women’s bone mass.
And there is some evidence to back it up, according to Dr. Dennis G.
Dolny and G. Francis Cisco Reyes of the University of Idaho in Moscow, who conducted the review.
In 1 study of 28 postmenopausal women, for example, researchers found that WBV appeared to increase bone density in the hip. The 8-month training regimen required the women to stand on a WBV platform, in a squat position, for six 1-minute cycles, 3 times per week.]
Another small study of postmenopausal women found that over one year, WBV training seemed to inhibit bone loss in the spine and hip area.
As for the usefulness of WBV in enhancing athletic prowess, studies have mixed results, according to Dolny and Reyes.
A few small studies, for example, have found that performing squats on a WBV platform is slightly more effective than standard squats in boosting muscle power and jump height.
However, other research questions the added benefits of WBV in young, fit people, according to Dolny and Reyes. And it’s unlikely, they note, that WBV alone, with no “external load” to exert the muscles, would do much good.
On the other hand, WBV might hold promise as an exercise therapy for older adults, the researchers say.
“In sedentary and elderly subjects, there is greater likelihood for WBV to improve muscle performance to at least the same if not greater extent (as) traditional training methods,” Dolny and Reyes write.
However, they add, more research is needed. People with conditions such as heart disease or high blood pressure should avoid WBV until safety concerns are better addressed.
SOURCE: Current Sports Medicine Reports, May/June 2008.
Pfizer to Pay Record $2.3 Billion Fine Posted by: Dr. Mercola
September 26 2009 | 39,158 views
In the largest health care fraud settlement in history, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer must pay $2.3 billion to resolve criminal and civil allegations that the company illegally promoted uses of four of its drugs, including the painkiller Bextra. The other drugs were the antipsychotic Geodon, the antibiotic Zyvox, and the anti-epileptic Lyrica.
Once the Food and Drug Administration approves drugs, doctors can prescribe them off-label for any use, but makers can’t market them for anything other than approved uses. Pfizer subsidiary Pharmacia & Upjohn pleaded guilty to a felony violation for promoting off-label uses of Bextra. At the FDA’s request, Pfizer pulled Bextra off the market in April 2005 because of its risks.
In a statement, Pfizer senior vice president and general counsel Amy Schulman said, “We regret certain actions taken in the past, but are proud of the action we’ve taken to strengthen our internal controls and pioneer new procedures.”
Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker, has just been slapped with the largest health care fraud settlement in history. The company must pay $2.3 billion for illegally promoting uses of four of its drugs, including Bextra, a painkiller that was linked to an increased risk of heart attacks and stroke.
The allegations, meanwhile, may have never come to light if it hadn’t been for Gulf War veteran and former Pfizer sales rep John Kopchinski, who filed the whistleblower lawsuit against Pfizer some six years ago. The lawsuit prompted federal and state officials to investigate, and what they found was a felony violation for promoting drugs for off-label uses.
Among the allegations, Kopchinski told USA Today that Pfizer told him to distribute 20-milligram samples to rheumatologists and orthopedists, even though the FDA had approved only 10-milligram doses for arthritis. Kopchinski said in a statement:
“In the Army I was expected to protect people at all costs. At Pfizer I was expected to increase profits at all costs, even when sales meant endangering lives.”
The truth of the matter is this: drug companies will stop at nothing to sell their products when billions of dollars are at stake.
They are out to make a profit so enticing doctors to prescribe their drugs for as many uses as possible, regardless of whether or not they have scientific evidence to back them up, will only allow them to sell more drugs and make more money.
Pfizer is certainly not alone in this process. Off-label drug promotion and use is commonplace.
How Many are Suffering From Taking Off-Label Drugs?
While doctors can legally prescribe FDA-approved medications off-label for any use, drugmakers are not allowed to market them for anything other than approved uses.
Many physicians, however, rely on drug reps to educate them about the indications for drugs and what other leading physicians are using them for. Drug companies are not shy about suggesting off-label uses. Further, for many drugs it can be difficult for physicians to determine whether medications were not approved based on the Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) — the information given to physicians about drugs.
In fact, according to one recent study, it was impossible for physicians to determine the licensing status for one in five drugs … which means it’s even more likely they’ll rely on drug reps opinions and suggestions.
Again, off-label drug use is extremely common. According to studies conducted in Britain, when a “suitable alternative” did not exist, doctors used unlicensed or “off label” medicine in:
90 percent of babies in neonatal intensive care units
70 percent of children in pediatric intensive care units
Two-thirds of children on general medical and surgical pediatric wards in the UK
Two studies suggest that children taking these medicines face a higher risk of side effects, with one estimate suggesting they suffer up to three times more side effects as a result.
Drug Companies Commonly Use Deceptive Marketing Practices
Several years ago, Pfizer paid another settlement, this one for $430 million, related to a 1996 whistleblower lawsuit involving their epilepsy drug Neurontin (which was formerly owned by Parke-Davis). It was this debacle that reportedly inspired Kopchinski to come forward in the current Bextra lawsuit.
Neurontin was only approved to control seizures at the time, but was promoted for unapproved uses such as treating bipolar disorder.
Parke-Davis paying 14 doctors with honoraria and research grants anywhere from $10,250 to $158,250 from 1993-97 to peddle their influence to promote Neurontin to their peers.
Medical education and communications committees (MECC) running continuing medical education courses funded by drug companies that are held in conjunction with other meetings.
Through MECC scams, those influential doctors or assistants conducting conference calls with other doctors, and drug company representatives monitoring those conversations.
Drug companies funding small trials of their own drugs that would be published only if the news was good.
The drug company cartel spends an obscene amount of cash — an estimated $30,000 annually — to promote their worthless drugs to every doctor in this country, amounting to some $18.5 billion. Unfortunately, let me assure you the mega-drug companies aren’t throwing their money away, as they get a far better return on their marketing investments than you’d think.
The people who stand to lose in this equation, are unfortunately those who unknowingly take a prescription drug for a use that has never been thoroughly tested. Most would not agree to become guinea pigs for the drug companies just to increase their profits, but that is essentially what happens when you take a drug for off-label uses.
Fortunately, you can avoid becoming Pfizer’s, or any other drug companies, next victim by taking control of your health. Leading a healthy lifestyle and staying educated about drug-free and non-invasive treatment options are the keys to your well-being.
Most are not aware of the pervasive corruption that exists in the corporate drug world. You need to understand that any corporation’s primary and essential responsibility is to their shareholders — NOT to you.
Drug companies have accumulated so much wealth, power and government influence that so far they have been able to largely escape any consequences linking them to profitting from permanently disabling, crippling or even killing consumers.
However, what they hadn’t anticipated or planned for was the freedom and liberation that the Internet provides in exposing their corrupt plans. So please keep staying informed and opening your mind to the real routes to health and happiness.
We get a lot questions about Whole Body Vibration. How does it work? What does it do? You could spend an eternity going through the results of a google search. But you don’t have to. We’ve compiled a list of 70 great studies and articles to help answer your questions. Here they are:
Those Beach Boys have been right all along: Vibrations are good, good, good.
Arriving just in time for New Year’s “I gained how much?” resolutions are vibration exercise platforms that seem to promise increased body tone with very little effort.
Among the machines getting a big push: the $3,500 Power Plate (the company says Madonna bought one after she fell off a horse), the $2,000 Ironman Resolution and the $495 Soloflex Whole Body Vibration Platform. “This is the greatest discovery since the Greeks and Romans perfected barbell exercises,” says Soloflex founder Jerry Wilson.
“Experiencing vibrations during a workout isn’t the be-all and end-all, but rather a great complement to what you’re already doing,” says Jasper Sidhu, president of The WAVE (Whole Body Advanced Vibration Exercise), whose $5,000 in-home version of a commercial platform arrives in January.
Vibration biomechanical stimulation as the physiological basis of vibration physical exercises (whole body vibration) causes reflecting muscle contractions like tonic vibration reflex. This type of intervention leads to high intensive stimulation of proprioceptors as called muscle spindles which result in alteration in parameters of activity and developments of human physiological functions. This type of training has broad positive influence on organism. Acceleration physical exercises improve muscle performance, flexibility, nervous function, significantly increase bone mineral density, physiological secretion of anabolic hormones, growth and anti-aging factors; normalize/decrease cortisol as anti-stress effect and are beneficial for balance and mobility as well. It is showed acceleration training caused by vibration stimulus is beneficial for people suffering from osteoporosis and obesity, for rehabilitation of nervous and motor function in patients with Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and stroke. PMID: 19947400 [PubMed - in process]
Shriners Hospital for Children, Montreal, QC, Canada. frauch@shriners.mcgill.ca
The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research:
Researchers have found one more reason that exercise is good for you: Moderate daily workouts appear to lessen the severity of flu symptoms and even help keep the flu at bay in mice.
