Whole-body Vibration as a Treatment for Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease resulting in the loss of dopaminergic neurons projecting from the substantia nigra pars compacta to the striatum. Whole-body vibration (WBV) is potentially beneficial in treating Parkinson's disease because it has been shown to elicit effects specific to both the brain and muscular system. Animal models of PD indicate that whole-body vibration can increase striatal dopamine levels, as well as the number of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. These findings were correlated with increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor. In addition to the potentially neuroplastic effects, \>20 Hz WBV has been shown to improve muscular performance. Improved muscular performance is believed to be attributed to WBV induced neuromuscular effects rather than muscle hypertrophy, with the specific mechanism defined as the tonic vibration reflex.