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Visiting a sauna: does inhaling hot dry air reduce common cold symptoms? A randomised controlled trial.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:To compare the efficacy of applying hot dry air versus dry air at room temperature to the throat of patients with a newly acquired common cold using a symptom severity score. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS:A randomised single-blind controlled trial with a treatment duration of 3 days and a follow-up period of 4 days was conducted at a sauna in Berlin, Germany. Between November 2007 and March 2008 and between September 2008 and April 2009, 157 patients with symptoms of the common cold were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n=80) and a control group (n=77). INTERVENTIONS:Participants in the intervention group inhaled hot dry air within a hot sauna, dressed in a winter coat, whereas participants in the control group inhaled dry air at room temperature within a hot sauna, also dressed in a winter coat. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Area under the curve (AUC) summarising symptom severity over time (Days 2, 3, 5 and 7), symptom severity scores for individual days, intake of medication for the common cold and general ill feeling. RESULTS:No significant difference between groups was observed for AUC representing symptom severity over time (intervention group mean, 31.2 [SEM, 1.8]; control group mean, 35.1 [SEM, 2.3]; group difference, -3.9 [95% CI, -9.7 to 1.9]; P=0.19). However, significant differences between groups were found for medication use on Day 1 (P=0.01), symptom severity score on Day 2 (P=0.04), and participants' ratings of the effectiveness of the therapy on Day 7 (P=0.03). CONCLUSION:Inhaling hot air while in a sauna has no significant impact on overall symptom severity of the common cold. TRIAL REGISTRATION:ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00552981.

SUBMITTER: Pach D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7168476 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec 6-20

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Visiting a sauna: does inhaling hot dry air reduce common cold symptoms? A randomised controlled trial.

Pach Daniel D Knöchel Bettina B Lüdtke Rainer R Wruck Katja K Willich Stefan N SN Witt Claudia M CM

The Medical journal of Australia 20101201 11-12

<h4>Objective</h4>To compare the efficacy of applying hot dry air versus dry air at room temperature to the throat of patients with a newly acquired common cold using a symptom severity score.<h4>Design, setting and participants</h4>A randomised single-blind controlled trial with a treatment duration of 3 days and a follow-up period of 4 days was conducted at a sauna in Berlin, Germany. Between November 2007 and March 2008 and between September 2008 and April 2009, 157 patients with symptoms of ...[more]

PMID: 21143077

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Project description:Urban environments often host a greater abundance and diversity of alien plant species than rural areas. This is frequently linked to higher disturbance and propagule pressure, but could also be related to the additional establishment of species from warmer native ranges in cities, facilitated by the latter's higher air temperatures and drier soils. A hitherto unresolved question is how stressful the urban environments become during climate extremes such as heatwaves and droughts. Do such episodes still favor alien plant species, or set them back? We used in situ measured phenotypic leaf and development trait responses of the six most widespread alien Asteraceae species from various native climates along Belgian urban-to-rural gradients, measured during two unusually warm and dry summers. Urbanization was characterized by three factors: the percentage of artificially sealed surfaces (urbanity, measured at three spatial scales from in situ to satellite-based), the vegetation cover and the sky view factor (SVF, fraction of the hemisphere not blocked by buildings or vegetation). Across species, either from colder or warmer native climates, we found a predominant protective effect of shielded environments that block solar radiation (low SVF) along the entire urban-to-rural gradient. Such environments induced lower leaf anthocyanins and flavonols indices, indicating heat stress mitigation. Shielded environments also increased specific leaf area (SLA), a typical shade response. We found that vegetated areas had a secondary importance, increasing the chlorophyll content and decreasing the flavonols index, but these effects were not consistent across species. Finally, urbanity at the organism spatial scale decreased plant height, while broader-scale urbanity had no significant influence. Our results suggest that sealed surfaces constrain alien Asteraceae during unusually warm and dry summers, while shielded environments protect them, possibly canceling out the lack of light. These findings shed new light on alien plant species success along urban-to-rural gradients in a changing climate.

Dataset Information

Visiting a sauna: does inhaling hot dry air reduce common cold symptoms? A randomised controlled trial.

Publications

Visiting a sauna: does inhaling hot dry air reduce common cold symptoms? A randomised controlled trial.

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