Medical Hydrology and Balneology: Environmental Aspects

Medical Hydrology and Balneology: Environmental Aspects
and last two years. This is a growing trend, recent Romanian and Japanese balneology
congresses are planned to have guest speakers. Here, ISMH is playing an
important role. With its increasing popularity ISMH is building up firm contacts
and vivid network among the balneology circumstances and associations such as
FEMTEC and ESPA.
4. Increasing recognition of Balneology and Thermal Medicine within scientific
medical community: Balneology and thermal medicine is gaining more recognition
and acceptance in the medical circles of North European and North American
countries. The interest in non-pharmacological and complementary and
alternative methods in these countries is growing not only in public but in the
medical communities as well. Increase in quantity and quality of scientific balneological
publications in English and increase in scientific evidence accordingly are
the most important driving factors here. Those old fashioned balneological centers
in these countries are reopening for use and the forgotten balneological resources
are being re-discovered as a result of increased attention and recognition of balneology.
5. Evaluating the effects of drinking cures (hydropinic treatments) and balneological
inhalation and irrigations; Balneological publications in international
scientific journals still mostly focus on the effects of balneotherapy (bathing in
thermal mineral water) but in recent years, we are gladly witnessing the appearance
of studies evaluating the therapeutic effects of the two other traditional balneological
methods; drinking cures and inhalation and irrigations applied in Pulmonology
and ENT. We still need more scientific work in this area but reviewing the recent
studies carried out in these "neglected" areas is encouraging.
6. Climatotherapy and Talassotherapy upsurge: In many countries, besides
medical hydrological and balneological interventions, climatotherapeutic and thalassotherapeutic
methods are used depending on geographic location and natural
features. In particular the Dead Sea, the Mediterranean basin, the Black Sea (Bulgaria,
Ukraine, Russia), Ocean coast (France, Brazil) and the North Sea and Baltic
coast (Germany, Estonia) have become more prominent in thalassotherapy. In
Europe, high and mid mountain climatotherapy (Oroterapi), and in Japan forest
climatotherapy (Shinrin Yoku) are used as unique climatic therapy methods and
new evidence is supporting their therapeutic value in certain conditions.
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Balnea
2012, núm. 6, 41-42