Effect of a 21-day balneotherapy program on blood cell counts, ponogen levels, and blood biochemical indexes in servicemen in sub-health condition.
Li Xu, Lin Wu, Tingting Liu and 4 others
PMID 28931990WHAT IT FOUND
After 21 days of daily mineral-water baths, male servicemen had changes in blood markers, including lower lactic acid and glucose.
The tap-water control group did not show the same changes. These are laboratory measures, not proof of symptom relief.
Key findings
01In the mineral-water group, 21 days of treatment significantly increased mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, and white blood cell count; platelet count did not change.
02Lactic acid decreased significantly after treatment; total carbon dioxide increased without significance.
03ALT, glucose, and triglyceride decreased significantly; total cholesterol and blood urea nitrogen showed no apparent changes, and the tap-water control group showed no significant differences.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The paper does not say how participants were sorted into the mineral-water and tap-water groups, so group differences could be due to selection. No blinding is reported, and participants knew which bath they received. The outcomes are blood cell counts, lactic acid, and biochemical indexes, not fatigue, pain, function, or quality of life. The control group received tap-water baths, so the study compares mineral-water baths with water baths, not with no treatment. Participants were male servicemen selected by a sub-health score, so results may not apply to patients seen in therapy.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that balneotherapy treats sub-health symptoms or improves fatigue. The study measured blood markers, not symptoms or function, and no blinding was reported.