Body vibration therapy fails test in MS patients

(Reuters Health) – Whole-body vibration is pitched as a solution to everything from low bone density in astronauts to a better golf swing for weekend duffers and as an aid to rehabilitating weakened muscles. But a small new study suggests that regular training using whole-body vibration does nothing to improve muscle strength or function in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

The technology has been increasingly used as a treatment for muscle-related diseases such as MS because the vibration is thought to stimulate muscles to become more efficient and to build bone.

In the U.S., an estimated 400,000 people have been diagnosed with MS, a condition affecting nerves and muscles that typically begins manifesting itself between the ages of 20 and 40. Characterized by progressive muscle weakness and loss of control, the course of the disease can vary widely between individuals but may eventually become debilitating.

In the first long-term investigation of whole-body vibration in MS sufferers, Belgian researchers looked for an effect on various measures of muscle capacity in the upper legs, including strength, function, endurance and speed of motion in 11 men and women with mildly to moderately disabling disease.