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In the face of diabetes, a common condition in which glucose and levels of destructive inflammation soar, whole body vibration appears to improve how well our body uses glucose as an energy source and adjust our microbiome and immune cells to deter inflammation, investigators report. For the first time they have described how regular use of whole body vibration can create this healthier mix by yielding a greater percentage of macrophages — cells that can both promote or prevent inflammation -- that suppress rather than promote. Investigators at the Medical College of Georgia and Dental College of Georgia at Augusta University have also shown that whole body vibration alters the microbiome, a collection of microorganisms in and on our body, which help protect us from invaders and, in the gut, help us digest food. Changes they saw included increasing levels of a bacterium that makes short chain fatty acids, which can help the body better utilize glucose, they report in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. Glucose is used by the body for fuel but at high levels promotes inflammation, insulin insensitivity and ultimately can cause diabetes. While there were other changes, the most dramatic they documented was the 17-fold increase in this bacterium called Alistipes, a gut bacterium not typically in high supply there but known to be proficient at making short chain fatty acids which, in turn, are "very good" at decreasing inflammation in the gut, says Dr. Jack Yu, chief of pediatric plastic surgery at MCG. Alistipes, which helps ferment our food without producing alcohol, generally improves the metabolic status of our gut and makes us more proficient at using the glucose we consume for energy. When Alistipes went up, glucose use and the macrophage mix also improved. It appears to help address a key concern in diabetes and many common diseases: inflammation. While acute inflammation helps us fight disease, chronic inflammation helps start and sustain a variety of diseases from cardiovascular problems to cancer as well as diabetes. While more work is needed, whole body vibration might be one widely applicable and generally safe approach to use. Theirs is the first study to document crosstalk between the microbiome and innate immunity by altering the macrophage mix with whole body vibration. Innate immunity is a sort of basic defense that immediately responds to invaders in the body and includes physical barriers like the skin as well as immune cells like macrophages, which are key to this response. In this scenario, macrophages, for example, release other cells called cytokines that help trigger inflammation. These microbiomes live in the mouth, gut, vagina and skin -- mostly in the gut-- at points where our body comes in contact with foreign items to help protect us from invaders. In the gut it helps us digest and use our food. Scientists have found more than 8 million genes represented in the bacteria, fungi and viruses that comprise a healthy human microbiome while the human himself has more like 20,000 to 25,000 genes. While Alistipes, which does not survive well outside the body, is not currently a part of probiotics or even yogurt cultures. Alistipes is found in plants. A 2017 study published in Endocrinology, provided evidence that whole body vibration was essentially the same as walking on a treadmill at reducing body fat and improving muscle and bone tone, including reducing seriously unhealthy fat around the liver, where it produces damage similar to excessive drinking. Source: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20190805/Whole-body-vibration-adjusts-the-microbiome-and-immune-cells-to-deter-inflammation-in-diabetes.aspx