As this thread is related to emphysema I thought it would be worth adding more info on What it is how it works hows and whys of getting it and symptoms etc etc.
As many that have or think they may have emphysema may search for info on this site for emphysema and Electronic Cigarettes.
I have been diagnosed with Mild Emphysema I smoked for 35 years and I am 50 years old in May.
I did stop smoking for 2 years 5 years ago when diagnosed with a blood clot on the lung and with Mild Emphysema, However I then started smoking again for the last 3 years when my wife was diagnosed with Breast cancer (She is in remission now) and stopped smoking on Christmas Day 2008 when I went down with a bad lung infection.
Found Electronic Cigarettes on the 31st dec and started using 6th Jan 09.
Just recently found this site and it is full of very helpful and useful information
As I don't have 15 posts yet I can't add full links so add parts of the link to info added below
emedicinehealth.com/emphysema/article_em.htm
Emphysema is called an obstructive lung disease because the destruction of lung tissue around smaller airways, called bronchioles, makes these airways unable to hold their shape properly when you exhale.
Normally, the lungs are very spongy and elastic.
When a breath is taken, the chest wall expands, expanding the sponge.
Similar to the way a squeezed sponge will draw water into it when released, suction draws air into the lungs when the chest wall expands.
Air is brought though the trachea (windpipe) and bronchi (the main air tubes going to right and left lungs).
These tubes divide into smaller and smaller tubes, finally ending in alveoli.
Alveoli, the tiniest structures in the lung, are very small air sacs that are arranged like a bunch of grapes.
The alveoli are at the ends of the smallest tubes called bronchioles.
The alveoli and the bronchioles are very important structures for the lungs to function properly.
It is these structures that are destroyed by emphysema.
A sponge works to pick up water because all of the tiny little holes expand all at once after being squeezed.
If the holes were larger, the sponge would not pick up as much water.
This is because a larger hole cannot expand enough by itself to equal the action of multiple smaller ones.
Thinking of the lungs as a sponge in this way, it becomes easier to see how emphysema acts to cause impaired lung function.
Lungs require an elastic quality, so that they can expand and contract well.
Additionally similar to the holes of the sponge, lungs need many alveoli (hundreds of millions, in fact) to draw enough air into them.
The fewer and the bigger the alveoli, the less effectively they perform.
Cigarette smoking is by far the most dangerous reason that people develop emphysema, and it is also the most preventable cause.
Other risk factors include a deficiency of an enzyme called alpha-1-antitrypsin, air pollution, airway reactivity, heredity, male sex, and age.
The importance of cigarette smoking as a risk factor for developing emphysema cannot be overemphasized.
Cigarette smoke contributes to this disease process in 2 ways.
It destroys lung tissue, which is the cause of the obstruction, and it causes inflammation and irritation of airways that can cause the disease to get worse.
Destruction of lung tissue occurs in several ways.
First, cigarette smoke directly affects the cells in the airway responsible for clearing mucus and other secretions.
Occasional smoking temporarily disrupts the sweeping action of tiny hairs called cilia that line the airways.
Continued smoking leads to longer dysfunction of the cilia.
Long-term exposure to cigarette smoke causes the cilia to disappear from the cells lining the air passages.
Without the constant sweeping motion of the cilia, mucous secretions cannot be cleared from the lower respiratory tract.
Furthermore, smoke causes mucous secretion to be increased at the same time that the ability to clear the secretions is decreased.
The resulting mucous buildup can provide bacteria with a rich source of food and lead to infection.
The immune cells in the lung, whose job it is to prevent and fight infection, are also affected by cigarette smoke.
They cannot fight bacteria as effectively or clear the lungs of the many particles (such as tar) that cigarette smoke contains.
In these ways cigarette smoke sets the stage for frequent lung infections.
Although these infections may not even be serious enough to require medical care, the inflammation caused by the immune system constantly attacking bacteria or tar leads to the release of destructive enzymes from the immune cells.
Over time, enzymes released during this persistent inflammation lead to the loss of proteins responsible for keeping the lungs elastic.
In addition, the tissue separating the air cells (alveoli) from one another also is destroyed. Over years of chronic exposure to cigarette smoke, the decreased elasticity and destruction of alveoli leads to the slow destruction of lung function.
Air pollution acts in a similar manner to cigarette smoke.
The pollutants cause inflammation in the airways, leading to lung tissue destruction.
Abnormal airway reactivity, such as bronchial asthma, has been shown to be a risk factor for the development of emphysema.
Men are more likely to develop emphysema than women.
The exact reason for this is unknown, but differences between male and female hormones are suspected.
Older age is a risk factor for emphysema.
Lung function normally declines with age.
Therefore, it stands to reason that the older the person, the more likely they will have enough lung tissue destruction to produce emphysema.
Close relatives of people with emphysema are more likely to develop the disease themselves. This is probably because the condition may be inherited.
The role of genetics in the development of emphysema, however, remains unclear.
Alpha-1-antitrypsin is a substance that fights a destructive enzyme in the lungs called trypsin.
Trypsin is a digestive enzyme, most often found in the digestive tract, where it is used to help the body digest food.
It is also released by immune cells in their attempt to destroy bacteria and other material. People with alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency cannot fight the destructive effects of trypsin once it is released in the lung.
The destruction of tissue by trypsin produces similar effects to those seen with cigarette smoking.
The lung tissue is slowly destroyed, thus decreasing the ability of the lungs to perform appropriately.
Shortness of breath is the most common symptom of emphysema.
Cough, sometimes caused by the production of mucus, and wheezing may also be symptoms of emphysema.
You may notice that your tolerance for exercise decreases over time.
Emphysema usually develops slowly.
You may not have any acute episodes of shortness of breath.
Slow deterioration is the rule, and it may go unnoticed.
This is especially the case if you are a smoker or have other medical problems that limit your ability to exercise.
One of the hallmark signs of emphysema is "purse-lipped breathing."
The person with emphysema is struggling to exhale completely, with airways that close when the chest wall collapses during expiration.
They purse the lips, leaving only a small opening.
Then, when they exhale, the lips block the flow of air, increasing pressure in the collapsed airways, and opening them, allowing the person to fully exhale.
People with emphysema may develop a "barrel chest," where the distance from the chest to the back, which is normally less than the distance side to side, becomes more pronounced. This is a direct result of air becoming trapped behind obstructed airways.
If you have new or worsening shortness of breath, seek medical attention from your doctor. Shortness of breath can occur with other diseases, particularly heart disease and other lung diseases, so it is important not to overlook or minimize this symptom.
A gradual decrease in the ability to exercise or perform daily activities, a persistent cough, and wheezing also suggest a visit to the doctor.
Because cigarette smoking is such a dangerous risk factor for emphysema, you may also wish to contact your doctor for help with making a plan to quit smoking, even in the absence of shortness of breath or other symptoms.
Doctors can offer you many options to help you stop smoking.
The support from a doctor may make the process easier than doing it alone.
Shortness of breath should always be taken seriously, especially if it comes on suddenly or if it gets worse over a relatively short period of time.
If you know you have emphysema, go to the hospital's emergency department with any new, severe, or worsening shortness of breath.
The inability to speak in full sentences may be a sign of shortness of breath.
Any hint of the lips, tongue, fingernails, or skin turning a shade of blue should prompt a visit to the hospital's emergency department.
This sign, called cyanosis, can indicate severe worsening of your lung condition.
The failure of shortness of breath to improve or worsening shortness of breath in spite of home medications can indicate the need for emergency department care.
A new or worsening cough can be a sign of an infection, such as pneumonia, and should prompt a visit to the hospital's emergency department for evaluation.
Increased sputum production may also be a sign of infection.
Infections make emphysema worse and can lead to long-term problems.
Medical Treatment
Treatment for emphysema can take many forms.
Different approaches to treatment are available.
Generally, a doctor will prescribe these treatments in a step-wise approach, depending on the severity of your condition.
Stop smoking: Although not strictly a treatment, most doctors make this recommendation for people with emphysema (and everyone).
Quitting smoking may halt the progression of the disease and should improve the function of the lungs to some extent.
A doctor may be able to prescribe medications to help in breaking the addiction and can also recommend behavioral therapies, such as support groups.
You and your doctor should work to find an approach that results in the successful end to cigarette smoking and, in the process, the beginning of improved lung function and quality of life.
Bronchodilating medications: These medications, which cause the air passages to open more fully and allow better air exchange, are usually the first medications that a doctor will prescribe for emphysema.
In very mild cases, bronchodilators may be used only as needed, for episodes of shortness of breath.
The most common bronchodilator for mild cases of emphysema is albuterol (Proventil or Ventolin).
It acts quickly, and 1 dose usually provides relief for 4-6 hours.
Albuterol is most commonly available as a metered-dose inhaler or MDI, and this is the form that will be used most often for mild emphysema, with intermittent shortness of breath.
When used for this purpose, some people refer to their albuterol inhaler as a "rescue" medication.
It acts to rescue them from a more serious attack of shortness of breath.
If you have some degree of shortness of breath at rest, a doctor may prescribe the albuterol to be given at regularly scheduled intervals, either through the MDI, or by nebulization. Nebulization involves breathing in liquid medication that has been vaporized by a continuous flow of air (in much the same way a whole-room vaporizer causes liquid droplets to enter the air by the flow of air through water).
Nebulized albuterol may be prescribed once scheduled doses via inhaler are no longer adequate.
Ipratropium bromide (Atrovent) is another bronchodilating medication that is used for relatively mild emphysema.
Similar to albuterol, it is available in both an inhaler and as a liquid for nebulization.
Unlike albuterol, however, ipratropium bromide is usually given in scheduled intervals. Therefore, it is not usually prescribed for "rescue" purposes. Atrovent lasts longer than albuterol, however, and often provides greater relief.
Methylxanthines (Theophylline) and other bronchodilating medications are available that have varying properties that may make them useful in certain cases.
Another fairly common medication is available in a tablet form.
Theophylline (Theo-Dur, Uniphyl) is a medication given orally.
It can have a sustained effect on keeping air passageways open.
Theophylline levels must be monitored by blood tests.
Too much theophylline can produce an overdose; too little, and there will not be enough relief of shortness of breath.
In addition, other drugs can interact with theophylline, altering the blood level without warning.
For this reason, doctors now prescribe theophylline very carefully.
If you take theophylline, take the medication as prescribed and check with your doctor before starting any new medication.
Steroid medications: They decrease inflammation in the body.
They are used for this effect in the lung and elsewhere and have been shown to be of some benefit in emphysema.
However, not all people will respond to steroid therapy.
Steroids may either be given orally or inhaled through an MDI or another form of inhaler.
Antibiotics: These medications are often prescribed for people with emphysema who have increased shortness of breath.
Even when the chest x-ray does not show pneumonia or evidence of infection, people treated with antibiotics tend to have shorter episodes of shortness of breath.
It is suspected that infection may play a role in an acute bout of emphysema, even before the infection worsens into a pneumonia or acute bronchitis.
Oxygen: If you have shortness of breath and go to a hospital's emergency department, you often are given oxygen.
It may even be necessary to give oxygen by placing a tube in your windpipe and allowing a machine to assist your breathing. In some cases, it may be necessary for you to receive oxygen at home as well.
There are home-based oxygen tanks available and portable units that enable you to be mobile and engage in normal day-to-day activities.
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Oxygen Therapy/Ozone Therapy a different thing altogether something I would like add about at a later stage.
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I Have been using
Home Salt Therapy via a Salt pipe I ll add a little info on this now.
searchwarp.com/swa8327.htm
The benefits of salt therapy (also called Halotherapy) or speleotherapy are well known and documented in Europe.
Halotherapy uses dry aerosol micro particles of salt and minerals to treat respiratory diseases and seeks to replicate the conditions of speleotherapy (from Greek speleos=cave), a treatment that has been practiced in old salt mines of Eastern Europe since the early 19th century.
In the mid 18th Century a Polish health official Felix Botchkowski, noticed that the workers of salt mines did not get ill with lung diseases.
He wrote a book about the effects of salt dust in 1843.
His successor M. Poljakowski founded a Salt Spa in Velicko near Krakow, which is still in operation.
During the Second World War salt mines were often used as bombproof shelters.
After spending time there many people who suffered from asthma felt that their health had gotten better!
Today there are many salt sanatoriums in Europe ( Austria , Hungary , Poland , Romania , Russia …).
The Halotherapy belongs to the category of the physical therapies non-drug and non invasive treatments of diseases.
In the former Soviet Union, medical researchers engaged in a concerted effort to develop physical therapies in order to avoid the costs and side effects of drug therapy as well as microbial and tumour resistance.
Russia has become the world leader in developing and testing new and increasingly effective physical therapies.
Many of the clinical trials have focused on Halotherapy as a treatment of asthma and chronic bronchitis and also very effective as a main or adjuvant therapy across the entire range of upper and lower respiratory tract diseases.
Respiratory diseases are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.
Most drug therapies of respiratory diseases have only palliative effects, and many have significant side effects, especially those with corticoids or steroids.
So, a physical therapy like Halotherapy is greatly needed.
Speleotherapy also makes a great demand on patients' time.
The mines are not conveniently located for most people and the total cost is fairly significant.
The effectiveness of speleotherapy is not acknowledged in all countries of the world, but in countries like Romania (Praid, Tg.Ocna, Seiged, Sovata, Slanic, Ocna ), Poland ( Wieliczka), Germany ( Teufelshöhle), Austria (Hallen, Solzbad-Salzeman ), Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Nakhichevan mines in Azerbaijan, the salt aerosol plays an important role in the treatment of chronic respiratory diseases, working well with or without medical treatment and without any known side effects.
Because of these, pregnant women with asthma or other respiratory diseases could use this therapy without any harm to the child.
Very well known and appreciated in these middle-eastern European countries, this therapy is covered by the public health care system.
In Romania there are also many salt lakes - Sovata with 7 salt lakes, Ocna Sibiului with 52 salt lakes in S-W of Transilvania, very well known in the treatment of infertility, metabolic diseases, skin diseases.
These salt lakes were usually formed by collapsing of salt caves ceilings.
All these salt lakes have different salinity, increasing with deepness – from 9g/l to 320g/l.
This salt therapy being very well known for its beneficial effects, a Romanian inventor put his mind at work and developed a device that is able to reproduce a speleotherapy micro environment in your home in an affordable and convenient way.
Internationally recognized, with Gold and Silver medal at “Salon International des Inventions", Geneva and “World Exhibition of Innovation, Research and New Technology", Brussels , this Romanian invention brings new hopes in the natural treatment of chronic respiratory diseases.
The inventor thought this device as an air salinizer that uses forced ionization of the indoor air by salt sublimation creating a micro climate of dry aerosol salt therapy in your living space. He used a natural process of salt crystallization to obtain salt micro crystals under 5µm in diameter, invisible to human eyes, being able to penetrate deep into the lung. The device uses only natural salt from within the mountain of salt, untreated or touched by the human processing technology.
Based on clinical studies, the inhaled saline has bactericide, mucokinetic, hydrophilic, anti inflammatory properties, reducing inflammation in the whole respiratory tract, absorbing edema from the mucosa lining the airway passages leading to widening of the airway passages, restoring the normal transport of mucus and unclog blockages in the bronchi and bronchioles leading to rapid elimination of the residual tar and foreign allergens, all of these in a natural process.
Edema of the nasal mucosa and the oropharynx and soft palate, causing nasal obstruction and snoring is diminished, leading to widening of the airway passage in the nose and the tubes of the sinuses and improving the sinuses drainage and reducing snoring.
In the auditory tube, edema of the Eustachian tube causing ear infection, is also diminished, leading to widening of the airway passages, better drainage and better aeration behind the tympanic membrane.
The salt therapy was found to have beneficial effects in the treatment of:
Asthma and Chronic Bronchitis
COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
Allergic Rhinopathy or Hay Fever
Cystic Fibrosis
Sinusitis
Ear Infections
Smoking Cough
Various acute or chronic respiratory disease
Reduce snoring and activates better sleep by clearing the airway passages in oropharyngeal region
Increased resistance to Cold & Flu by opening and clearing the nasal airway and improving the drainage of the sinuses
Humidifies the bronchial secretions reducing broncho-spasm and facilitating elimination of the smoke residual tar, phlegm expel and other allergens
Improves the quality of the indoor air by eliminating the dust, cigarette smoke, bad odours, mould and mites, having bactericide reduction properties.
The salt therapy is a natural method of therapy and does not involve any risk and is finally adapted to the living space.
However, this is NOT a substitute for medical treatment and should only be used as an adjuvant helping to improve the quality of patients’ life, reducing the antibiotics and corticoids or steroids intake, reducing the rate of annual hospitalizations and decrease the frequency of respiratory diseases attacks.
For more information, clinical studies and testimonials you can visit the web site.
LTiba .
Daily use of a Salt Pipe for at lest several minutes will produce beneficial effects in the following illnesses:
- pollen allergy and other allergies of the respiratory tract
- asthma, bronchitis;
- whooping-cough, nasal catarrh, hay-fever, cold
- infectious respiratory diseases
- last but not least, the respiratory problems caused by smoking
Dr. Hegyi Gabriella MD.PhD., Division leader doctor:
Yamamoto Institute for Rehabilitation, Training institue of Semmelweis University (Complementive Medical Attendance) Budapest, 1196 Petofi u. 79. Hungary,
Tel/ fax: +36 1 2813035 E-mail:
drhegyi@elender.hu
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Medical inspection of the inhaler set called the Saltpipe
The inspection of the instrument requested by: B.B. System Kereskedelmi és Szolgáltató Kft.
(B.B. System Ltd. For Commerce and Services )
1146 Budapest, Francia út 57/c. (repr.: Békefi Imre)
The date of arrival of the instrument to our institute: 01. 09. 2002.
Description of the instrument: A ceramic container, filled with a mixture of special salt crystals and minerals
Application of the instrument: Setting it in the way of the inhaled air it helps the easier penetrability of the upper respiratory tructs with a special inhaling opportunity
The basics of the functioning of the instrument:
Inhalation is a special method for the local treatment of respiratory illnesses. The advantages of the inhalational method are:
- Local effect
- Higher salt concentration in the upper tructs
- Fast results
- The systematic effect is lower than in case of medication implied orally or injected
- The instrument employs only fully natural resources
The obtainable physiological effects are:
- Mucolysis
- Secretolysis
- Eventually: bronchospasmolysis
- In case of special material (minerals) antiphlogisticus effect
Indications of the application:
For the chronic illnesses of respiratory tructs (asthma, bronchiale), and for different forms of allergic rhinitis
In case of long term application of the set the vital capacity intensifies and subjectively, it provides an improved general state of health
Our Experiences:
For the proper way of application the user must be trained and the process must be controlled, monitored later on.
With the remission of the patien's condition an individual dose must be defined with other expression: the duration of application must be determined.
The hypocamnia, caused by the forced - too hard - inhalation must be avoided so the aquirement of the proper technique is essential.
In order to avoid contamination, and in order to keep the instrument clean, only one patient should use one set.
During the application of the instrument we did not change the dosage of the patients.
The voluntarily involved patients we randomly divided into the "treatment" and the "control" groups.
The "treatment" patients used the instument several times a day for a determined period of time. Weekly and after two months we examined the patients - with attention to iron-, and vitalcapacity.
Observations:The application of the Saltpipe is effective even in case of chronic upper respiratory illnesses, but in these cases there was a need for medicinary supplementation also.
In case of the chronic illnesses, the patients reported about a subjectively easier breathing and inspirational experiences, which was officially confirmed by objective vitalcapacity measurements.
Based on the above mentioned statements, the outcome of the adjuvant application of the instrument has proven to be EFFECTIVE in many of the cases.
During the test period no side effects have been observed.
Accordingly:
I suggest the application of the "Saltpipe" instrument as a complementive, supportive method with the following completion:
It must be distributed with a suitably informative and ethic description for users, which does not deceive the user and does not make him or her abandon the previously used traditional medicaments and treatment.
Budapest, 08. 10. 2002.
Dr. Hegyi Gabriella MD.PhD.
Division leader specialist
============================
Dr. Ferenc Pátz
Pulmonologist
Groups of patients consisting of 7 boys and 3 girls which :
6 Asthma bronchiale
2 Sinusitis maxillaris
2 Laryngitis subglottica
Age:
The youngest child: 3 years old
The eldest: 16 years old
Average: 9 years
Duration:
Average: 6 weeks. The longest: 2 months period. The shortest: 4 weeks period
Experiences:
The product is catching the attention of both the children and the parents with its nice looks, especially with the latest elephant design, which does not give the impresson of a medicament.
The description should be attached in the form of a little brochure, the method of application should be described in a more detailed, pointed, highlighted way /introduction, "what to do-s", and the importance of the daily, regular usage/.
Because of the relatively short testing period, we could draw only a few conclusions.
We received indisputably positive feedbacks from both of the patients suffering from recitive sinusitis.
As a result of the application of the set, in the first 2-3 weeks the nasal discharge intensified, later the intensity of the mornig and evening coughings decreased.
In case of one of our two patients suffering from the illness of pseudo-croup, we did not experience any significant changes, the "barking-like" coughing did not emerge less frequently, its progress was similar to the previous way.
There wasn't much of a chance for the good outcome anyway, because of the conditions created by the possibility of virus infection.
In the other case, the patient did not have coughing seizures in the testing period, but it might be a coincidence, because of the short period (again) we cannot give a "clear-cut", certain explanation.
In case of our asthmatic patients (who were represented in a greater number) we would have also needed longer time for drawing more reliable conclusions.
Since at wintertime the chance of infection is greater and the existance of allergens is not significant, these circumstances also influenced the effects of the instument.
In two cases, the parents experienced that the relief from the asthmatic seizures come sooner and the torturing coughing ended faster.
In two cases the frequency of seizures decreased and it the last two cases we did not observe any significant changes.
===================
Dr. Valéria Burzuk
Doctor
Notices about the experiences in connection with the Saltpipe used in the case of 10 patients suffering from Chronic Bronchitis, COPD and Asthma Brochiales:
10 patients were using the Saltpipe in the period starting in October 2002, finishing in February 2003, for 2-3 months of duration.
These patients were suffering from respiratory illnesses; 3 of them suffered from chronic bronchitis, 7 of them from asthma bronchiales: 2 of this 7 people had severe bronchitis and COPD.
4 patients out of the 10 were females and 6 of them were males.
2 patient between the age of 50 & 55, 3 between the age 55 & 60, 2 of them were between 60 & 65, and only one of the patients was above 70.
Out of these 10 patients 6 suffers from heart diseases, which aggrevated the applicability of antispasmiodic sprays - for the bronchial tubes - because of the side effects which exert the functioning of the heart.
I was trying to choose patients whose illness was severe (chronic bronchitis, COPD, and/or ashtma bronchiale).
The experiences of the patients show that the Saltpipe helps to dissolve sediments, helps in the process of discharge and doing so, easens their breathing.
As a doctor, I found the Saltpipe a very effective complementary tool in the therapy of patients with respiratory illnesses.
We can almost equalize the effects of the mineral-filled air inhaled through the Saltpipe with the effects of the salt caverns (apart from the fact that the temperature of air inhaled through the Saltpipe is identical with body temperature), further more, it is more moderate from a financial point of view than the expenses of salt cavern therapies. As a summery I would like to conclude the followings:
The secretion-discharge is easier and so, the breathing of the patient becomes more relief. I also observed that the speed of the air-stream in the small bronchial tubes accelerated which results in an easier breathing.
I find the application fo the Saltpipe indisputably beneficial.
I owe you my gratitude - also in the name of my patients - for the Saltpipe.
=================
Aerosol Salt Treatment of Respiratory Diseases
Halotherapy (HT, from Greek halos=salt) uses dry aerosol microparticles of salt and, in one version, minerals to treat respiratory diseases.
HT seeks to replicate the conditions of speleotherapy (from Greek speleos=cave), a treatment that has been practiced in old salt mines of Eastern Europe since the early 19th Century.
Halotherapy belongs to the category of the physical therapies--non-drug treatments of diseases, many associated with the spa treatments of Eastern Europe.
In the former Soviet Union, medical researchers engaged in a concerted effort to develop physical therapies in order to avoid the costs and side effects of drug therapy as well as microbial and tumor resistance.
Russia has become the world leader in developing and testing new and increasingly effective physical therapies.
Most of the dozens of clinical trials thus far, mainly reported in Russian-language journals, have focussed on HT as a treatment of asthma and chronic bronchitis.
But HT may also be effective as a main or adjuvant therapy across the entire range of upper and lower respiratory tract diseases and potentially against systemic diseases as well.
Respiratory diseases are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.
Asthma has become ever more prevalent in industrialized societies, with special impact on children.
Meanwhile, cigarette smoking has spread chronic bronchitis and emphysema everywhere; in developing countries biomass cooking smoke has a similar devastating impact on women and children.
The situation in especially bad in China, with its 350 million smokers and terrible air pollution.
Most drug therapies of respiratory diseases have only palliative effects, and many have significant side effects.
So a physical therapy like HT is much needed. HT's excellent action and modest cost make it a very attractive kind of medicine.
Speleotherapy
It is likely that miners and others knew about the beneficial health effects of the microclimate of salt mines for centuries before they were first described in a book published by a Polish physician in 1843.
Since then, the practice of bringing patients with respiratory diseases down into salt mines for cures gradually spread throughout Eastern Europe, and it has become a standard feature of spa treatment there.
By its very nature, speleotherapy resists scientific norms.
The reported healing and invigorating effects of the microclimate of salt mines are variously ascribed to the microparticles of salt floating in the air, the temperature, the relative humidity, the near or total absence of pathogens and allergens, the effects of radiation from minerals, and the tranquillity of the setting.
But it is difficult to determine the relative influence of these factors, and presumably some synergy exists.
In addition, each chamber in each mine has a distinct microclimate. Conducting clinical trials in such conditions is not easy.
Often speleotherapy has been combined with other modalities.
And many of the early clinical trial reports lacked scientific rigor.
Speleotherapy also makes a great demand on patients' time.
The mines are not conveniently located for most people.
The total cost is fairly significant.
Determining a specific dose and tracking long-term effects of speleotherapy have proven very elusive goals.
Nonetheless, various clinical trial reports and the favorable outcomes for many individual patients have led to growing scientific attention and a devoted following for speleotherapy (for a sample report, see Horvath, 1986).
They also gave the Soviet (now Russian) space agency the idea of developing microclimate optimization devices for cosmonauts that would replicate the microclimates of salt mines. Most of this work has been done in St. Petersburg, which is now the location of the leading Russian HT company, Aeromed Ltd, and of the Arsenal Design Bureau, which works on the salt + mineral approach.
HT Devices
In the 1980s the Russians began to build
halochambers that recreated in clinics the microclimate of salt mines.
These halochambers have floors and walls lined with rock salt (halite).
Patients sit in the halochamber for an hour per session while music and pleasant videos are played to create a relaxed mood.
Halochambers are certified as medical devices in Russia, are in use in Eastern Europe, and are starting to spread to North America.
Another approach has been the
desktop HT device, which has tubes for breathing in the aerosol salt or simply fills the air with microparticles of salt.
Thus far no multimineral aerosol appears to have been supplied this way, though halochambers have been lined with silvinite, the rock from potash mines that contains about 60 percent sodium chloride, 35 percent potassium chloride, and 5 percent of other minerals. Pure halite is the precipitate from the shores of ancient seas, while silvinite results from the evaporation of a dead sea.
Often a desktop HT device is used in combination with a halochamber.
A ceramic salt pipe from Hungary represents a third approach.
The patient breathes in gently through the mouth, then exhales through the nose.
A fourth, popular device is the
rock crystal lamp (Pakistan) or
salt lamp (Poland), which is comprised of a largish piece of rock salt with an attached light bulb that glows through the salt and whose heat causes microparticles to become airborne.
Serious clinical studies have been done of the first two methods, where the number of microparticles per cubic meter is monitored, permitting accurate dose measurement.
The ability to deliver a specified dose represents a major advantage of halotherapy over speleotherapy.
Still, speleotherapy retains importance as a source of scientific evidence regarding the as-yet not well-characterized, multiple factors that deliver the therapeutic effect.
Depending on the conditions of a certain salt mine or cave, speleotherapy might also prove more effective than halotherapy in a given case.
Parameters
Aerosolized microparticles larger than 10 microns in diameter are caught in the upper airways and transported up and out of the respiratory tract by the mucociliary system.
In the range of 5-10 microns, they penetrate into the trachea and central bronchial area, but no farther.
Only below 5 microns do the microparticles penerate deep into the lungs, though the larger microparticles have useful effects in the upper respiratory tract.
In the range of 0.1-2.5 microns--the same size as the most damaging microparticles from auto and industrial pollution, and invisible to the human eye--the microparticles of salt penetrate into every corner of the bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli and deposit upon the surface.
Even though the salt microparticles spread over an area in the alveoli roughly the size of a tennis court, only a few milligrams of salt are needed.
So there need be no concern about the possibility of excessive salt intake from halotherapy in the case of hypertensive patients.
The extremely small size, relatively low amount, and slow dosing of the microparticles also make them much less likely to provoke a hyperreactive response in asthma patients than moist hypertonic saline.
The hygroscopic characteristics of moist particles make them grow significantly during transit and therefore to deposit mainly in the upper respiratory tract and in the central area of the trachea and bronchi.
Still, studies have shown that moist particles of salt from hypertonic saline have beneficial effects in cystic fibrosis, for instance, at least in the short term (Wark and McDonald, 2004).
A significant parameter for HT devices, therefore, is the fraction of the microparticles produced that is below 2.5 microns.
According to many authors, maintaining a room temperature in the vicinity of 18-24° C and a relative humidity around 50% can conduce to better treatment outcomes.
Devices can be set to emit different amounts of salt microparticles-e.g., four levels from 1 to 16 mg/m³, monitored by a microparticle counting device.
Another parameter of note is the negative electrical charge on the particles, which has been measured at 6-10 nK/m³ (Chervinskaya, 2002).
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One last bit too add I also have changed from Refined salt to Unrefined Salt in my eating habits.
Added below in a 2nd post