OLD people could use a good shaking, says Clinton Rubin鈥檚 team at the State
University of New York at Stony Brook. The researchers have found that when
sheep are made to stand on a platform vibrating at an imperceptible 30 hertz for
20 minutes a day, their legs gained 35 per cent more bone mass within a year
(Nature, vol 412, p 603).
Bone was believed to bulk up only if subjected to relatively large, slow
strains, such as those produced when walking. But Rubin鈥檚 work shows that tiny,
higher-frequency strains, such as those your muscles produce when standing, can
also build bone mass.
His team is now carrying out similar trials in people to see if the technique
can prevent osteoporosis.
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鈥淲e鈥檝e just tried this with 60 post-menopausal women,鈥� says Rubin, and so far
the technique seems to have inhibited the condition.