For some, Osteoboost may initially evoke TV informercials for devices that promise to shock folks’s stomach muscle groups into six-pack formation whereas they sit, or mid-Twentieth century contraptions that professed to jiggle away fats with out train.
However this machine, a low-vibration belt that resembles a fanny pack, acquired approval final yr from the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration. It simply hit the market as the primary and solely non-drug intervention for osteopenia–low bone density affecting largely older folks, particularly postmenopausal girls.
Developed by Redwood Metropolis-based Bone Well being Applied sciences, Osteoboost applies 30 hertz of oscillations per second and 0.3-g of gravitational drive to probably the most weak elements of the skeleton, regulated by strain sensors and accelerometers that reply to particular person our bodies.
RELATED: How one can be proactive about your bone well being
“I barely even feel it,” quipped Los Altos resident Rachel Corn, who mentioned she’s been sporting hers on the standing desk in her workplace or whereas establishing calcium and protein-rich Greek yogurt dishes at residence.
The scientific trial that led to the belt’s FDA approval confirmed a mean 85% discount in bone loss in examine members.
Identical to weight-bearing workouts, the vibrations stimulate osteocytes, which ship alerts to the 2 different varieties of bone cells–osteoblasts and osteoclasts–to create new bone matter and recycle the outdated.
The expertise of utilizing vibration to counteract bone loss got here from NASA, which knew for the reason that Soviet cosmonauts that suspension in a zero gravity surroundings sucks away bone matter.
In line with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, 54% of postmenopausal girls have osteopenia. Corn, 55, is smack in the course of that 52-57 age bracket when girls expertise precipitous bone density loss however acquired her prognosis at 40.
“It’s a death sentence if you’re active,” recalled Corn.
There was nothing she may do about her progressing bone loss however keep a calcium, protein and fiber-rich weight loss plan, train and take a drug that blocks the physique’s absorption of bone cells. The drugs made her nauseated and stole her sleep. After a couple of years of putting up with these unwanted effects on prime of her way of life alterations, her bone density plateaued.
“It was clear that this would lead to osteoporosis pretty quickly and it wouldn’t get better on its own,” she mentioned.
Then, she met Laura Yecies, CEO of Bone Well being Applied sciences.
Osteoboost was private for Yecies. Throughout faculty summers, she had volunteered within the nursing residence directed by her father, seeing the demise of individuals with musculoskeletal frailty. With a household historical past of osteoporosis and after receiving her personal prognosis of osteopenia, she wished to interrupt the chain.
Curiously, bone well being had by no means been a “sexy” space for medical innovation regardless of the widespread want for it. Most individuals nonetheless solely deal with their bone well being after a fragility fracture — damaged bones in conditions a wholesome skeleton would stand up to.
Yecies mentioned the collapse of fractured vertebrae within the decrease again is what makes “little old ladies” little and {that a} hip break in older age results in lack of independence and heightened probabilities of pneumonia, bedsores, despair and even loss of life. “It can be sort of a cascade,” Yecies mentioned.
Patty Hirota-Cohen, in her seventies, has been preoccupied with osteopenia for no less than 15 years. She’s seen friends go downhill after breaking bones. “So, I’m trying really hard not to fall,” she mentioned, after a fall prevention class at a group heart in San Leandro.
Hirota-Cohen, a respecter of Jap and historical medication as a lot as standard medical science, mentioned Osteoboost reminds her of the shaking and bouncing workouts within the Qi Gong historical Chinese language apply for general well-being.
“There’s so much wisdom there–now, it’s in a belt,” she mentioned.
Earlier this yr, considered one of her yoga college students instructed her about Victor Lau, a Tai Ji Quan teacher. Lau’s self-discipline is the bodily extension of an entire philosophy of muscle growth, harnessing of qi (power) to assist folks know and management their physique. Lau gears lessons towards growing energy, steadiness, consciousness and confidence amongst his pupils to cut back their danger of damage.
Dr. David Karpf is a Stanford endocrinologist and internationally acknowledged osteoporosis knowledgeable who has been advising Bone Well being Applied sciences since 2001. He helped develop the primary alendronate sodium medicines that accompanied astronauts to area to decelerate the breakdown of their bones and likewise emphasizes the dwelling nature of bones.
Karpf has not pushed the product whose growth he suggested however has prescribed it for sufferers who inquire for the reason that machine is confirmed, non-invasive and has negligible well being dangers.
For now, Osteoboost is labeled as a therapy for postmenopausal girls with osteopenia however Yecies already is aware of of docs electively prescribing Osteoboost to different populations resembling folks with full-blown osteoporosis. The corporate is researching extra labeled makes use of for the machine, resembling therapy for males with low bone density, and breast most cancers survivors who’ve undergone chemotherapy and take estrogen blockers to stop recurrence.
The price of the machine, $995, is just not coated by insurance coverage however Bone Well being Applied sciences is engaged on altering that.
“I’ve heard so many women say bone loss is a part of getting old, but I don’t think we need to accept that women get frail,” Yecies mentioned.
Corn, who has been utilizing Osteoboost for a month now, mentioned, “I like the image of women being strong.”
She accomplished her first triathlon in Napa a few years in the past in her early fifties, then took on a muddy Spartan race. She skilled along with her son to shimmy up a rope in lower than 10 seconds flat — one thing readily demonstrated within the gymnasium in her storage.
“People don’t understand how hard it is to do this when you’re older,” she mentioned, expressing satisfaction and marvel on the athletic feats she has completed. She’s removed from carried out.
“I want to be swimming and running when I’m 70 for sure,” she mentioned.
