- A new study finds that robot-delivered mechanotherapy decreased muscle
damage and boosted muscle repair in mice with a severe skeletal leg muscle injury.
- The scientists also found that mechanotherapy caused a reduction in certain
white blood cells responsible for inflammation.
- Next, scientists will need to confirm whether mechanotherapy has the same
effects in humans with severe skeletal muscle injury and whether it can
be used clinically.
Skeletal
muscle enables the body to move and maintain
posture. Direct injury — for instance, from trauma — can impair a
person’s movement and quality of life.
People have been using
massage and other mechanotherapies for thousands of years to soothe aching and
injured muscles. However, the science behind the effects of massage has
not been examined in detail.
“Lots of people have been trying to study the beneficial effects
of massage and other mechanotherapies on the body, but up to this point,
it hadn’t been done in a systematic, reproducible way,” explains
lead author of the current study
Dr. Bo Ri Seo, Ph.D.
“Our work shows a very clear connection between mechanical stimulation
and immune function,” he continues.
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