Low Buzz May Give Mice Better Bones and Less Fat

Low Buzz May Give Mice Better Bones and Less Fat

Low Buzz May Give Mice Better Bones and Less Fat
By GINA KOLATA
* w w w .nytimes . com /2007/10/30/health/research/30bone.html?ref=science

Clinton T. Rubin knows full well that his recent results are surprising
— that no one has been more taken aback than he. And he cautions that it
is far too soon to leap to conclusions about humans. But still, he says,
what if ... ?

And no wonder, other scientists say. Dr. Rubin, director of the Center
for Biotechnology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is
reporting that in mice, a simple treatment that does not involve drugs
appears to be directing cells to turn into bone instead of fat.

All he does is put mice on a platform that buzzes at such a low
frequency that some people cannot even feel it. The mice stand there for
15 minutes a day, five days a week. Afterward, they have 27 percent less
fat than mice that did not stand on the platform — and correspondingly
more bone.

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