Vibrating vest can help you breathe easier
AVIBRATING vest has been developed to help those with cystic fibrosis and other l ung conditions breathe more easily. Cystic fibrosis is a genetic condition in which the lungs and digestive system become clogged with especially thick, sticky mucus that clings to the airways.
Left alone this not only interferes with breathing, it can give rise to infection.
Ireland has the highest rate of cystic fibrosis in the world, affecting one in 19 Irish people.
Treatment involves alleviating symptoms, and clearing the mucus.
Physiotherapy exercises such as chest vibration — manually vibrating the chest or changing the body’s position — lying on the back, side or front can help but these often need to be done daily, and sometimes up to four times a day.
Patients with other lung conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is thought to affect around 300,000 Irish people have similar problems as the condition also causes more mucus than normal.
COPD is a collection of lung diseases including chronic bronchitis, emphysema and chronic obstructive airways disease.
The vest is designed to help by vibrating the chest area to shake up the secretions and mucus, which can then be expelled through normal coughing.
It could also help those with neuromuscular disorders such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy — where patients, through muscular weakness, lose the ability to breathe and clear their airways as normal.
THE
cordless Chestmaster, which looks like a black, sleeveless vest with a zipper on the front, has eight metal coils i n different sections — these coils vibrate and pummel targeted sites of the chest painlessly. It is much easier than physio for the patient because they can carry out the therapy when and as often as they like. And, unlike many of the physiotherapy exercises, it can be done without assistance.
Each of the eight coils in the battery- powered vest can be i ndividually adjusted, so the vibration targets the areas of the lungs that are most congested. Researchers say the vest, which has undergone trials at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, will help improve quality of life, too.
It has been designed for use at home and allows the patients to move freely while using the device. They say: ‘This technology has t he potential to provide a fundamental s hi f t in t he standard of care for patients suffering from cystic fibrosis and other conditions where airway clearance is required.’
Dr Janet Allen, an expert on cystic fibrosis says: ‘This is an interesting development.
‘It is encouraging to see people with cystic fibrosis looking for new ways to adhere to physiotherapy, which is a key part of the fight against infection. As with all new devices, it is
essential that controlled trials are performed using this new technology to see if there is a clinical benefit over and above existing techniques.’
MEANWHILE, researchers believe that stomach fat could be used as a new treatment for COPD. The treatment involves using stem cells — ‘master’ cells that can grow into a variety of different cells — extracted from the patient’s abdominal fat.
Abdominal fat is ten times as rich in stem cells as tissue from other areas such as the bone marrow.
Around four fluid ounces of fat are removed using a syringe — the stem cells are then extracted, and returned to the patient via an intravenous drip.
The theory is that once in the blood, the stem cells reduce inflammation, and may help repair damaged cells, resulting in better lung function and breathing.
The trial at the Instituto de Medicina Regenerativa, Mexico, follows previous studies that have suggested stem- cell treatment might work.
One study at the University of Vermont in the US showed this technique reduced markers of inflammation in the blood of people with COPD.
Inflammation plays a key part in the development and progress of the condition.