Body News.(movement therapy using vibrating platform promotes weight loss and treats osteoporosis, a new skin cream against acne rosacea, and phototherapy for skin aging prevention)

Byline: Kristin Sainani

A device used to treat osteoporosis may have a surprising side effectpreventing abdominal fat. Mice placed on a vibrating platform 15 minutes a day for 15 weeks developed stronger bones and 27 percent less torso fat than untreated mice. Low-intensity vibrations stimulate bone growth because they send signals to the body suggestive of muscle contractionsand when stem cells become bone cells, they may be diverted from becoming fat cells, explains Clinton Rubin, professor of biomedical engineering at the State University of New York. If the therapy is proven successful in humans, it could help people avoid becoming fat but would not get rid of fat, Rubin says. The device (the Juvent vibration platform) operates at a lower intensity than the vibrating exercise machines in some gyms. Those may do more harm than good, Rubin cautions, because they can generate shaking that is 50 times stronger, which could damage the spine and joints.

A New Skin Soother

Red, irritated skin characteristic of the condition rosacea may benefit from a new treatment in development. The finding is a "breakthrough," says dermatologist Leslie Baumann of the University of Miami Cosmetic Center after reviewing the research, published in Archives of Dermatology. Rosacea patients applied .05 percent oxymetazoline, a blood vessel constrictor, to their skin, and their symptoms improved, says Stuart D. Shanler, a dermatologist in New York City, who coauthored the report. ...