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Low Buzz May Give Mice Better Bones and Less Fat
NY Times ^ | October 30, 2007 | GINA KOLATA

Posted on 11/04/2007 6:36:27 PM PST by neverdem

Clinton T. Rubin knows full well that his recent results are surprising — that no one has been more taken aback than he. And he cautions that it is far too soon to leap to conclusions about humans. But still, he says, what if ... ?

And no wonder, other scientists say. Dr. Rubin, director of the Center for Biotechnology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is reporting that in mice, a simple treatment that does not involve drugs appears to be directing cells to turn into bone instead of fat.

All he does is put mice on a platform that buzzes at such a low frequency that some people cannot even feel it. The mice stand there for 15 minutes a day, five days a week. Afterward, they have 27 percent less fat than mice that did not stand on the platform — and correspondingly more bone.

“I was the biggest skeptic in the world,” Dr. Rubin said. “And I sit here and say, ‘This can’t possibly be happening.’ I feel like the credibility of my scientific career is sitting on a razor’s edge between ‘Wow, this is really cool,’ and ‘These people are nuts.’”

The responses to his work bear out that feeling. While some scientists are enthusiastic, others are skeptical.

The mice may be less fat after standing on the platform, these researchers say, but they are not convinced of the explanation — that fat precursor cells are turning into bone.

Even so, the National Institutes of Health is sufficiently intrigued to investigate the effect in a large clinical trial in elderly people, said Joan A. McGowan, a division director at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

Dr. McGowan notes that Dr. Rubin is a respected...

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: adultstemcells; bones; fat; health; medicine; osteoporosis; stemcells; zaq
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Less Fat in Vibrated Mice (graphic)

Adipogenesis is inhibited by brief, daily exposure to high-frequency, extremely low-magnitude mechanical signals

Adipogenesis is inhibited by brief, daily exposure to high-frequency, extremely low-magnitude mechanical signals link to pdf FReebie


FAT Abdominal scans of two mice show subcutaneous fat (gray) and visceral fat (red). The vibrated mouse, bottom, has less of both.

1 posted on 11/04/2007 6:36:29 PM PST by neverdem
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To: neverdem

fat doesn’t turn into bone but when you stress the bones they become denser


2 posted on 11/04/2007 6:39:02 PM PST by ari-freedom (I am for traditional moral values, a strong national defense, and free markets.)
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To: neverdem

Another example of government funded research?


3 posted on 11/04/2007 6:40:28 PM PST by relee ('Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away)
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To: neverdem
Soloflex Whole Body Vibration platform
4 posted on 11/04/2007 6:40:40 PM PST by FReepaholic
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To: Coleus; Peach; airborne; Asphalt; Dr. Scarpetta; I'm ALL Right!; StAnDeliver; ovrtaxt; ...

Guess what is receiving signals?


5 posted on 11/04/2007 6:42:01 PM PST by neverdem (Call talk radio. We need a Constitutional Amendment for Congressional term limits. Let's Roll!)
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To: neverdem

Hey now! Didn’t we have jiggling, vibration-type devices in spas back in the fifties that were supposed to “break up fatty deposits?”

Those of you of a certain age, please fill me in.


6 posted on 11/04/2007 6:46:43 PM PST by sinanju
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To: ari-freedom
fat doesn’t turn into bone but when you stress the bones they become denser

Pluripotent adult stem cells can develop into a number of different tissues including fat and bone cells, i.e. adipocytes and osteocytes, respectively.

7 posted on 11/04/2007 6:47:09 PM PST by neverdem (Call talk radio. We need a Constitutional Amendment for Congressional term limits. Let's Roll!)
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To: neverdem

Low buzz? I thought they were getting the mice high. Just a little.


8 posted on 11/04/2007 6:47:20 PM PST by airborne (Proud to be a conservative! Proud to support Duncan Hunter for President!)
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To: FReepaholic

Thanks for the link.


9 posted on 11/04/2007 6:48:45 PM PST by neverdem (Call talk radio. We need a Constitutional Amendment for Congressional term limits. Let's Roll!)
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To: neverdem

If this were true then my 30 minute drive to & from work on pothole filled roads and rumble strips etc ........I’d have a BMI of 3%.......:o)


10 posted on 11/04/2007 6:49:56 PM PST by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet. ©)
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To: neverdem

The header lead me to believe that getting a buzz on would lead to less fat.

Ah well !!


11 posted on 11/04/2007 6:54:38 PM PST by Mears
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To: neverdem
Interesting ~ Type II diabetics have a problem with hormones produced by the bones ~ they have less of it. They also put on more fat.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1895548/posts

12 posted on 11/04/2007 6:56:41 PM PST by muawiyah
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To: neverdem

bump for later attempt @ download...1st try ???


13 posted on 11/04/2007 6:57:30 PM PST by matthew fuller (Crop-circles, killer rabbits and UFO'S are caused by GLOBAL WARMING!)
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To: El Gato; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Robert A. Cook, PE; lepton; LadyDoc; jb6; tiamat; PGalt; Dianna; ...
Cryo-Cell Launches C'elle, First-Ever Proprietary Menstrual Stem Cell Service

Devices Enforce Cellular Silence, Sweet but Illegal It's not that kind of cell.

Circumcision on Decline in Africa Due to Global Warming

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.

14 posted on 11/04/2007 6:58:36 PM PST by neverdem (Call talk radio. We need a Constitutional Amendment for Congressional term limits. Let's Roll!)
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To: neverdem

So those silly vibratory belts they used to have at health spas in the 50s, 60s, and 70s really worked?


15 posted on 11/04/2007 7:00:31 PM PST by mamelukesabre
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To: neverdem
I seem to remember SUNY at Stony Brook stuff on sonic radiation in a mini-physics course on human/radiation effects I took eons ago.

They were trying to determine what X milliwatts/cm2 was doing to a fetus during an ultrasound back in the 1970s.

However, the real question is, should I go look for my vibrating mouse to get the benefits?

16 posted on 11/04/2007 7:00:51 PM PST by Calvin Locke
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To: neverdem

IF they are turning fat into bone, does that mean these mice are growing an exoskeleton?


17 posted on 11/04/2007 7:03:06 PM PST by mamelukesabre
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To: mamelukesabre
So those silly vibratory belts they used to have at health spas in the 50s, 60s, and 70s really worked?

I don't know.

18 posted on 11/04/2007 7:03:21 PM PST by neverdem (Call talk radio. We need a Constitutional Amendment for Congressional term limits. Let's Roll!)
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To: ari-freedom

and brain cells?


19 posted on 11/04/2007 7:07:01 PM PST by GOPJ (Hillary can't stand up to Kucinich & Russert in a fair fight debate? Takes a war room for Hillary?")
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To: neverdem
Interesting. If this is the case, there's gonna be a whole lot of shakin' goin' on...

I can understand that low level mechanical stress might lead to increased bone density, and it makes sense that the body would be burning more energy trying to remain stable.

That said, I have been on drilling locations where the rig would literally shake the whole drilling location (as evidenced by low amplitude standing waves in my coffee cup). People get edgy when exposed to that for long periods of time, but it may be a combination of other factors and different frequencies involved.

20 posted on 11/04/2007 7:11:57 PM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly.)
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