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Does low-level mechanical vibration improve BMD in the elderly?
DOI:10.1038/bonekey.2015.92
To determine the impact of 10 minutes daily whole body vibration on bone mineral density (BMD) in the elderly skeleton, Kiel et al. ran a randomized controlled trial (RCT), assigning 89 participants a treatment of 0.3 g at 37 Hz each day; 85 control subjects were treated using similar equipment but without vibrations (placebo group).
The participants were followed for 24 months. The total volumetric trabecular femoral BMD in the vibration-treatment group increased more than in the placebo group (2.2% vs 0.4%), but the difference was not significant (P>0.1). An increase in median trabecular BMD in the mid-vertebra of 5.3% was noted in the active group compared with 2.4% in the placebo, but again this was non significant (P>0.1).
When serum levels of total procollagen type 1 N-terminal propeptide (P1NP)and of the C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (sCTX) was measured, no difference was found between the groups, indicating a similar level of bone turn over. Similar findings were made when subjects were treated for a period of three years, even thought adherence to vibration therapy was close to 70 percent.
Editor's comment: Despite promising preliminary studies, this remarkably designed RCT demonstrates that vibrating platforms with low force (0.3 g) do not exert beneficial effects on BMD in the elderly. The results of this study does not preclude the possibility that higher magnitude vibrations (> 1 g), particularly coupled to isometric exercise, could improve bone mass.
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