Vibration therapy can reduce abnormal involuntary movements associated with long-term treatment of Parkinson’s disease and peripheral oedema occurring in 5-15% of patients.

The physical activity of patients with chronic diseases, i.e. Parkinson’s disease, is very low. They tend to be older people with sedentary lifestyles, cardiovascular and rheumatological diseases, which limits their physical activity. Vibrotherapy is an adjunctive treatment method, reducing the need for activity on the part of the patient, while providing similar physiological benefits.

The potential benefits of vibration therapy in sedentary Parkinson’s disease patients are similar to those produced during exercise, as both modalities increase nitric oxide levels. These benefits include:

• prevention and treatment of vascular atherosclerosis leading to coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease;;
• stopping osteoporosis;
• improving cognitive function;
• prevention and treatment of depression;
• improved sleep;
• reduced constipation;
• reduced fatigue;
• improved functional motor performance;
• optimisation of dopamine-producing neurons.

Based on:

Whole Body Periodic Acceleration: “Passive Exercise” for Parkinson’s disease Marvin A. Sackner. Journal of Parkinsonism & Restless Legs Syndrome, Volume 2 Issue 1 (Apr. 2012)

Methodology

In the article described here, vibrotherapy in the supine position is used. Horizontal movements take place approximately 140 times per minute (2.3 Hz). This procedure provides a sensation that can be perceived as riding a horse or jumping on a trampoline while lying down. Through such pulses, the human body experiences repeated acceleration, which increases the pulsatile shear stress on the inner lining of the blood vessels (endothelium). The beneficial effects of vibration therapy in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease can be attributed to the increased release of nitric oxide in the circulatory system, which reduces oxidative stress and inflammation. Nitric oxide, is released along with potent anti-inflammatory, vasodilator, anti-atherosclerotic, antioxidant neurotransmitters in both healthy individuals and patients.

The vibrotherapy in research

The therapy sessions lasted 30-45 minutes and are comparable to 30-45 minutes of moderate exercise.

Commentary

Approximately 40% of patients with Parkinson’s disease have chronic pain, which is often overlooked or ignored by doctors. The pain is due to a number of causes, which can be exacerbated by major depression, which occurs in 20-40% of Parkinson’s disease patients. In addition, vibrotherapy supports the treatment of pain and depression. Patients with Parkinson’s disease are approximately 30% less physically active than healthy people of a similar age. This can lead to serious health complications associated with a sedentary lifestyle. In this respect, vibrotherapy can be considered a ‘passive form of exercise’ because, in addition to increasing beneficial substances in the circulation such as nitric oxide and increasing neurotrophic factor signalling, vibrotherapy activates all major joints of the body a total of 6,300 times during a 45-minute therapy session. In 16 patients with moderate to severe Parkinson’s disease, with a mean disease duration of nine years, with optimal drug treatment – about two-thirds showed improvement after a 10-day cycle of vibrotherapy treatments in the supine position. Such treatments also improved motor function in 70% of about 50 patients. Improvements included increased gait flexibility, increased stride length, elimination or reduction of gait freezing.
In conclusion, supine vibration therapy has a strong scientific basis as an adjunctive therapy to manage the clinical symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and as an adjunctive tool in pharmacological replacement therapy. In the management of chronic diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, treatment is lifelong and access to vibration therapy should be available as part of long-term healthcare.

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