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In preliminary lab tests, researchers showed that by controlling the weak electrical fields that arise naturally at wound sites, they could direct cells to either close or open up a wound at the flick of a switch. By making the cells move faster, they were able to speed up wound healing by 50%.
Hard-to-heal wounds, like diabetic ulcers, fester because of insufficient blood supply at the wound site. However, the application of an electrical stimulus can promote the growth of blood vessels, and new research examines the best stimulus parameters -- such as frequency and magnitude -- for successful therapy.
Clinton Rubin found that placing mice on a vibrating platform for 15 minutes per day, 5 days per week, for 15 weeks produced a 27 percent reduction in fat and a corresponding increase in bone. Hypothesizing that mechanical signals, such as muscle contractions, tell us when to make more bone, Rubin believed that a slight, buzzing vibration would be more effective than large signals like pounding the concrete while running. Rubin’s previous work showed that standing on a vibrating platform increased bone, a procedure that shows promise for dealing with osteoporosis and other bone loss. But the reduced fat finding was surprising. Rubin argues that stem cells in bone marrow can turn into either fat or bone, depending on the signals they receive. Perhaps some of these cells were diverted into bone as a result of the vibration.
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Human adipose tissue has been shown to be an abundant and rich source of adult stem cells with a population of cells that possess extensive proliferative capacity, and the ability to differentiate into multiple cell lineages. ... to ligaments, tendon, muscle, cartilage, bone or fat. Adipose derived stem/stromal cells are similar but not identical to bone marrow cells. ... if it is placed with muscle cells it was differentiate into muscle and be incorporated there. ... the yield of stem cells from adipose tissue is 500 to 1,000 times higher than with bone marrow.
originally posted by: ~Lucidity
And experimental electrical therapy, very similar to what is now known as a TENS unit (I believe that's the name) helped my fibromyalgia when nothing else did. It reset/retrained my nerve function/response or something. I don't really understand how it worked, only that it did. And has held for 8 years, with only minor flare ups.
(Of course the other option from the quacks was "get on these six kinds of pills for life and deal with it." That wasn't an option for me.)
originally posted by: ~Lucidity
And experimental electrical therapy, very similar to what is now known as a TENS unit (I believe that's the name) helped my fibromyalgia when nothing else did. It reset/retrained my nerve function/response or something. I don't really understand how it worked, only that it did. And has held for 8 years, with only minor flare ups.