Study on climatotherapy in the Wieliczka salt mine for asthma

According to the guidelines for asthma treatment, the main goal of pulmonary rehabilitation is optimal asthma control. The Asthma Control Test (ACT) is a standardized questionnaire with five questions to assess asthma control. The study led by Magdalena Kostrzon compared ACT values before and after treatment (subterraneotherapy) with other conventional respiratory parameters.
The study included 21 patients with bronchial asthma who underwent a 3-week subterraneotherapy program in the "Wieliczka" salt mine. Patients completed the ACT questionnaire before and 2 weeks after subterraneotherapy. At the same time, tests of the concentration of nitric oxide in exhaled breath (FENO), peak expiratory flow (PEF) and spirometry were performed.
Subterraneotherapy had a significant effect on the change in MEF75 and improved the ACT score. The differences in other parameters were not statistically significant, but in the case of FEV1 and VC the differences found were close to statistical significance. The differences in the results before and after subterraneotherapy were higher in the group of patients with poor or moderate asthma control than in the group with good asthma control. For the parameters FEV1, VC, MEF75 and ACT score, the improvement was significantly higher in the group with poor control.

The pulmonary rehabilitation program in combination with subterraneotherapy helps to control asthma, especially in patients with poorly or moderately controlled asthma.