Effects of Bio-Electro-Magnetic-Energy-Regulation (BEMER) on Ventilatory Threshold with - PowerPoint Presentation

1. Effects of Bio-Electro-Magnetic-Energy-Regulation (BEMER) on Ventilatory Threshold with Aerobic CapacityB. Menti, C. Smith, T. Colburn, & C. Robinson1Movement and Sport Sciences, Lewis-Clark State College, Lewiston, IdahoAbstractThe Bio-Electro-Magnetic-Energy-Regulation (BEMER) pad is a relatively new piece of technology. Currently, the technology is primarily used in physical vascular therapy, but many studies have been done to expand the scope of the BEMER pad. For example, one study has shown positive effects of the BEMER pad in the reduction of cancer cells during chemotherapy. Other studies have found positive results using the BEMER technology to increase circulation and oxygen saturation levels. PURPOSE: To determine if the BEMER pad is a viable tool to improve aerobic performance in elite athletes as well as the general population. METHODS: The participants will be randomly assigned between a placebo group and a BEMER pad treatment group. Both groups will lay on the BEMER pad, however the pad will be turned off for the placebo group. All participants will undergo a pre-test and post-test. Both tests will be a sub-maximal V02max test on the treadmill. The tests will end once the lactate threshold is reached, and participants will complete a gradual cool down. Once the pre-test is completed, the participants will be asked to complete ten consecutive days of BEMER treatments or placebo treatments lasting 10 minutes for each session. Following the ten days of treatment post-test will be performed and the lactate threshold will be calculated again. The pre-test and post-test data will then be compared to determine if there is greater positive correlation between the BEMER treatment group and lactate threshold when compared to the placebo group. In addition to lactate threshold, blood pressure, heart rate, 02 saturation, respiratory exchange ratio (RER), and ventilatory threshold will also be recorded. These variables will also be compared between the pre-test and the post-test. The data for this study is currently being collected and results are pending.IntroductionAerobic capacity is one of the greatest indicators of success in aerobic sports. With access to workout facilities limited for the foreseeable future, athletic populations are struggling to maintain previous levels of activity. (Hall, Phillips, Arena, & Laddu, 2020). Athletic populations have been shown to have significantly poorer performance in maximal oxygen uptake, heart rate, blood lactate levels, and ventilatory function after 2-4 weeks (Mujika & Padilla, 2001). With such quick detraining times, it is hard for these populations to maintain previous levels of fitness and more people are sliding into sedentary behaviors. The most common metrics used to measure the fitness levels of aerobically trained individuals are ventilatory and lactate thresholds. The ventilatory threshold (also known as the anaerobic threshold) is the most accurate metric showing the beginning of the accumulation of lactate in the blood, which causes altered oxygen kinetics, metabolic acidosis and hyperventilation (Gaskill, Ruby, Walker, Sanchez, Serfass, Leon, 2001). An alteration of this point could have major implications for an athletic individual's performance. BEMER therapy has proven effective in many other mediums, such as increasing the radio sensitization of tumors in cancer patients (Storch, Dickreuter, Artati, Adamski & Cordes, 2016) and in fatigue levels in patients with multiple sclerosis (Piatowski, Kern & Ziemssen, 2009). Both of these studies show how the BEMER is able to increase microcirculation and oxygen supply in capillaries. However, this modality has been used mostly in clinical settings. The benefits it could have on aerobic capacity, ventilatory thresholds, or in athletic populations have not been properly explored.The purpose of this study is to investigate if the BEMER pad can be used to help enhance aerobic performance in both athletes and non-athletes. This will be done using the metabolic cart to see if there is a difference in the lactate threshold between a pre-test and post-test. Participants will be randomly placed in one of two groups, a group with BEMER treatments and a placebo. Heart rate, blood pressure, oxidation, ventilation threshold, and respiratory exchange ratio will also be tested.MethodsBefore testing can begin:Researchers will recruit participants verbally and explain the process of consent, PARQ (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire) and its purpose is to inform the researchers of any potential safety risks that the participants may have. This includes, but is not limited to, Asthma, Cardiovascular Disease, high blood pressure, and Diabetes. , and purpose of their experiment.Participants will be required to fill out a PARQ form and consent form to ensure the safety of the participantThe participant will be informed that they can ask any questions they may have and that they may drop out at any point.Participants will have resting cardiovascular assessments collected ; Resting heart rate, resting oxygen saturation rate, resting Blood pressure, resting lactic acid, and calculated exercise heart rate to ensure safety.Participants will be assigned to a Bio-Electro-Magnetic Energy regulation pad group and a placebo group. The placebo is the BEMER pad turned off in the same position on the table. How participants will be assigned will be the random assignment function in excel.Before pretesting, participants will be required to undergo a pilot treatment of the BEMER pad or placebo to make sure that they will be able to complete the study. Researchers will come 30 minutes before any testing to prepare equipment and metabolic cart. This will include keeping track of equipment, calibrating the metabolic cart, cleaning and sanitizing any testing or treatment area, and making sure the BEMER pad is fully functional.Once all criteria are meet, pre-testing can begin:Participants will be equipped with a metabolic cart and heart rate monitor. These will be consistently monitored during the entire test to ensure the safety of the participant and collect the desired data. Altogether, the cart will keep track of heart rate, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, lactate, ventilatory threshold, and respiratory exchange ratio.Begin stage 1 of the pre-test, Increase the % grade and speed (mph) every 3 minutes.The stages go as follows:Once the lactate threshold has been crossed (estimated at 75-85% of Maximum heart rate) the test will end, and pre-test data will be collected. This data will be collected on an excel spreadsheet that is only available to the research head and the student researchers.The participants will be asked to participate in ten consecutive days of BEMER or placebo treatments. These treatments will be for 10 minutes. Once ten days are done, a post test will be done. This test will follow the same protocol as the pre-test.Pre-test data and post-test data will be compared and analyzed using a paired t-test to make a final decision on the hypothesis.ResultsThe preliminary results show very little significance in the BEMER pad being used as a tool to increase ventilatory threshold. There was a slight benefit in the use of the BEMER pad; those that were in the BEMER group showed an improvement from 76% max HR to 78% max HR when they hit their ventilatory threshold. Comparatively, out placebo group went down from 76% max HR to 75% max HR. A paired t-test was also run comparing results of the pre- and post-test ventilatory thresholds. The treatment group (n=5) had a p=0.341 and the placebo group (n=5) had a p=0.439. With the current sample size, this is an insignificant amount and could have happened by chance. Most of the participants at the current time are highly trained aerobic athletes. With a diversification of the population and an increase in participants, results may show a statistically significant change. The BEMER pad also showed no correlation on the dissipation of blood lactate levels at any of the 3 times collected after the test was done. The accumulation and dissipation of lactate in the blood was similar for both the placebo and BEMER group. With the majority of the participants being highly trained athletes, the BEMER pad did not provide them much aid in the dissipation of lactate throughout the 30-minute testing period. DiscussionThe purpose of this study was to determine the effect of Bio-electromagnetic energy regulation(BEMER) therapy on ventilatory threshold (VT) and blood lactate levels during submaximal exercise. This was investigated using individuals meeting the ACSM guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week. The ventilatory threshold was the main indicator of the accumulation of blood lactate and the switch from aerobic to anaerobic energy systems within this study. Any significant differences within the study were determined running a paired t-test on the pre-treatment results vs. the post-treatment results. For the placebo group, there was no significant difference between the pre- and post-test ventilatory thresholds (p=0.439). In the treatment group, there was also no significant difference between pre- and post-treatment results (p=0.341). Another indicator used to determine the effects of the BEMER was the percentage of the participant’s maximal heart rate (HRmax) they had achieved when they for reached their ventilatory threshold. During the pre-test, participants in both the placebo and treatment groups reached their VT at an average of 76% of their HRmax (placebo SD=6%, treatment SD=8%). During the post-test, the participants who received the placebo treatment achieved their VT at an average of 75% of their HRmax (SD=6%). The participants that received treatment on the BEMER reached their VT at 78% HRmax (SD=4%). This was still not a significant difference. These results show that BEMER therapy does not have any significant effect on the ventilatory threshold of athletic individuals. This could have occurred for a multitude of reasons. BEMER therapy may simply be unable to affect VT. The treatments also lasted for 10 consecutive days. This may not have been long enough for proper physiological change to occur. It also may be more effective in other population groups who would be less susceptible to the ceiling effect and have higher capabilities change. BEMER therapy is a new technology and warrants further investigation into its effects on the human body. ConclusionThe current data that has been collected displays that there is no difference between the placebo and BEMER group. Both groups show similar performance improvements in both ventilatory threshold and blood lactate clearing post exercise. Since no changes were made to the participants daily activities in the 10-day period aerobic capacity increases are most likely a result of test-retest improvement. If given the opportunity for future research, we would look into more of an intervention with the participants besides just BEMER treatment along with extending the amount of time receiving treatment. However, more data is currently being collected and with a larger N our results may change.ReferencesHall, G., Laddu, D. R., Phillips, S. A., Lavie, C. J., & Arena, R. (2020). A tale of two pandemics: How will COVID-19 and global trends in physical inactivity and sedentary behavior affect one another? Progress in cardiovascular diseases, S0033-0620(20)30077-3. Advance online publication.Gaskill, Steven E., et al. Validity and reliability of combining three methods to determine ventilatory threshold. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 33.11 (2001): 1841-1848.Mujika, I., & Padilla, S. A. B. I. N. O. (2001). Cardiorespiratory and metabolic characteristics of detraining in humans. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 33(3), 413-421Piatkowski, J., Kern, S., & Ziemssen, T. (2009). Effect of BEMER magnetic field therapy on the level of fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis: a randomized, double-blind controlled trial. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 15(5), 507-511.Storch, K., Dickreuter, E., Artati, A., Adamski, J., & Cordes, N. (2016). BEMER electromagnetic  field therapy reduces cancer cell radioresistance by enhanced ROS formation and induced DNA damage. PLoS One, 11(12), e0167931.AcknowledgementsSupported by State of Idaho HERC Grant and Lewis-Clark State College Division of Movement and Sport SciencesStage #Time (Min)Speed (Mph)Grade (%)10-33323-64436-95549-1266512-1567615-1868718-2169821-24610924-276111027-30612Heart Rate (% Max HR