Salt chambers help asthmatics
Americans have the wrong view of the Russian command: "Off to the salt mines!" Eastern Europeans for years were treated for respiratory problems like asthma by housing them in salt mines where the air is free of airborne pathogens. When the Iron Curtain fell, two related developments could be anticipated: 1) hopes were raised that the contributory air pollution in the East would be rectified and 2) scientists in the West would examine the vast Russian-language literature on speleotherapy (treatment by internment in salt mines).
A new study in Allergy magazine earlier this year by J. Hedman and a team of Finnish researchers has documented the response of asthmatic patients treated in salt chambers. "Salt chamber treatment reduced bronchial hyperresponsiveness as an add-on therapy in asthmatics with a low to moderate dose of inhaled steroids," the researchers concluded, suggesting further study for the treatment "as a complementary therapy to conventional medication."
Citation: Allergy 2006: 61:605-610.
