Dr. Petar Chipev: Treatment in a s alt room relieves asthma and COPD

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Dr. Petar Chipev: Treatment in a s alt room relieves asthma and COPD
Dr. Petar Chipev: Treatment in a s alt room relieves asthma and COPD
Anonim

Dr. Chipev, what is the halotherapy method?

- The method is borrowed from practices applied in the former Soviet Union and in particular in Russia and in Ukraine where there are s alt caves (s alt mines). It has been found that when patients with various diseases stay in s alt mines, they get relief from their problems. Halotherapy is used not only for diseases of the respiratory system, but also for other chronic diseases. Around 1985, similar to the s alt caves, s alt rooms with an analogous microclimate were created. This is achieved by spraying s alt (sodium chloride) in the air in a certain concentration, which is breathed for a given period of time by the person performing halotherapy. Courses of treatment last a week or more in order to accumulate the effect of the therapy.

What is the healing effect of halotherapy and for what diseases is it best?

- There are many studies on the healing effect of halotherapy, especially on various chronic lung diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), in which diseases pathological changes occur in the airways as a result of chronic inflammation, which from in turn leads to the formation of secretions in the respiratory tract and increased sensitivity of the bronchial tree. Halotherapy succeeds in alleviating the condition of patients with these pathological deviations.

Halotherapy as a treatment method has been best studied in asthma. It has been found to reduce bronchial hyperactivity - the main pathogenetic and pathophysiological element of bronchial asthma. This increased airway reactivity is reduced.

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How long is halotherapy needed to treat asthma? And can it be used during an asthma attack?

- This type of treatment is an addition to the main drug therapy and is not used during an asthma attack. It is used when the patient is in a stable condition. As a result of halotherapy, the frequency of attacks and symptoms of asthma decrease. As for how long and how often to visit a s alt room, there are different protocols for applying the method. I have no experience in the specific application of halotherapy, I only refer patients for additional treatment in s alt rooms. There are halotherapy specialists who follow specific protocols according to the patient's condition and age. Depending on the disease, a different concentration of s alt is sprinkled in the air and it is determined how many minutes per session the patient should spend in the s alt room and how many days a month to visit it. Appointment of halotherapy courses is determined individually. Most often, however, the treatment is carried out every other day, with the procedures lasting 40 minutes for patients over 12 years old and 30 minutes for children under 12 years old. The duration of the entire therapeutic course and the concentration of the aerosolized s alt depend on the patient's diagnosis, clinical picture, stage of the disease, etc.

What are your impressions of halotherapy in your patients?

- I've been using it for almost two years now with my patients and have had pretty good reviews. Children and young people are most affected. Asthma attacks become less frequent, and patients feel better between them. For allergic rhinitis and snoring, I also recommend halotherapy.

If halotherapy is the complementary treatment of bronchial asthma, what is the main one?

- The main treatment of asthma is with inhaled medications which are divided into two groups. One is for maintenance therapy and aims to reduce attacks by reducing inflammation in the airways. The second drugs are for an attack and relieve the symptoms. These are primarily bronchodilators that widen the airways and reduce shortness of breath and coughing. Treatments such as halotherapy are additional and support the main drug therapy.

Is there anything new in the treatment of asthma and similar types of chronic diseases?

- Immunotherapy is relatively the newest method for their treatment. It uses antibodies that bind to the antibodies that trigger allergic asthma attacks. New and new antibodies are being invented to break the pathological chains leading to inflammation.

Is this immunotherapy applied in Bulgaria?

- The he alth fund reimburses two medicines for immunotherapy. They are written by a committee. However, not every patient is suitable for immunotherapy. It is mainly used in severe asthma, which is more difficult to treat with conventional methods.

Is immunotherapy also used in children or only in adults?

- More often applied to elderly patients. In children, standard medical treatment is effective.

What is the relationship between asthma and allergic rhinitis?

- It is about the same type of inflammation that develops in two different places in the body. In asthma, we have inflammation in contact with an allergen of the lining of the lungs, and in rhinitis - in the nasal lining (of the nose). Allergens that trigger asthma can get anywhere along the airways and cause inflammation. It is not that allergic rhinitis leads to bronchial asthma, but both diseases have the same causative agent and the same pathogenesis.

What causes asthma?

- Mainly the different allergens in the air and the body's tendency to react to these allergens with inflammation. This does not happen to every person, but when the immune system is set more aggressively towards certain allergens, it causes inflammation upon contact with them. Asthma is most often triggered in childhood. It happens that the symptoms disappear when growing up, but the disease can also become chronic over time - the characteristic symptoms and periodic attacks continue. Asthma with a late onset, around 40-50 years of age, also occurs. The pathogenesis is the same, but there are also genetic factors that have not yet been identified.

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The healing properties of caves

Speleotherapy is a natural treatment method that uses the unique microclimate of caves. Powdered dry sodium chloride is the main healing element in the air environment of s alt mines. It separates from their walls. The therapeutic effect of the air in this underground microclimate is enhanced by its temperature, hypobacterial and hypoallergenic properties

The first he alth center in a s alt mine was opened by the Polish doctor Dr. Felix Botzkowski in 1838, and the first halotherapy device was created in 1985 in Odessa

Halotherapy (from the Greek halos - s alt) is a form of speleotherapy for the treatment of acute and chronic problems of the skin, upper and lower respiratory tract, nervous system, etc. It is applied in the climate-controlled air environment of the so-called s alt rooms. In these rooms, conditions in s alt mines are recreated by generators of aerosolized dry s alt

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1994, the secret of the s alt rooms gradually spread throughout the world, and today halotherapy is a popular adjunctive method in the treatment of chronic diseases of the respiratory system in Europe, the United States, Australia and Canada

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