(Image source from: Healthline)
A new study says that Whole Body Vibration (WBV), an alternative therapeutic method, can significantly improve the use of glucose by our body as an energy source and adjust our microbiome and immune cells to reduce diabetic inflammation.
Diabetic inflammation is caused in individuals with diabetes due to the presence of higher levels of cytokines than in individuals. The inflammatory response in turn puts diabetics at a higher risk for developing certain conditions (such as stroke or heart attack) than other individuals.
In Whole Body Vibration, vibrations are delivered to the body in an attempt to improve muscle power and strength.
The study showed how the use of whole body vibration on a regular basis can create this healthier mix by yielding a greater percentage of macrophages, large phagocytic cells that can both prevent or promote inflammation, that suppresses rather than promote.
For the study, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, the researchers used a mouse model to show that WBV alters the microbiome, an aggregation of microorganisms in our body, which help defend us from invaders and, in the gut, help us digest food.
The research team saw several changes including increased levels of a bacterium that makes short-chain fatty acids, which can help the body utilize glucose in a better way.
Glucose is used by the body for energy but at high levels, it promotes inflammation, insulin insensitivity and in the end, can cause diabetes. Glucose is a type of sugar you get from the foods you eat.
"While there were other changes, the most dramatic they documented was the 17-fold increase in this bacterium called Alistipes, a gut bacterium not typically in high supply there but known to be proficient at making short-chain fatty acids which, in turn, are "very good" at decreasing inflammation in the gut," said Jack Yu, chief of pediatric plastic surgery at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University.
Alistipes helps ferment our food without producing alcohol. It, by and large, improve the metabolic status of our gut and makes us more proficient at using the glucose we eat for energy.
The researchers reiterated that while no one is sure just how Whole Body Vibration works it seems to help tackle a key concern in diabetes and a large number of common diseases: inflammation.
“While acute inflammation helps us fight disease, chronic inflammation helps start and sustain a variety of diseases from cardiovascular problems to cancer as well as diabetes,” the researchers said.
By Sowmya Sangam
