Medical Hydrology and Balneology: Environmental Aspects

A retrospective investigation of spa cure therapies
effecting on serum cholesterol, LDL, HDL
cholesterol and trigliserid level changes
Ergican E (1) , Gürdal H (1) , Özel S (1) , Karagülle M (1) , Disçi R (2) ,
Erdogan N (1) , Dönmez A (1) , Karagülle MZ (1)
(1) Istanbul University, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Department of Medical Ecology and
Hydroclimatology, Turkey
(2) Istanbul University, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Medical Statistics Department, Turkey
ergisukerim@gmail.com
Materials and Methods
Spa cure treatments have been observed for many centuries, for the benefit of
patients who were sent to spa therapy centers in different thermomineral water
source districts, which also have distinct climatic properties and environments for
two or three weeks of accomodation periods.It has also a supplementary importance
for patients to get rid of from their native living regions’ detrimental properties.
In this study, the short time lipid profile laboratory findings of reported patients
who had rheumatologic complaints and have admitted to Istanbul Medical Faculty,
Medical Ecology and Hydroclimatology Department’s Locomotor System Diseases
Outpatient Clinic, were aimed to be investigated before and after 15 days of spa
therapies.
Materials and Methods
Between the period of the years 2000-2008, 631 patients, when their recurrent
spa therapy trips in different years were added, the blood analysis results obtained
from the Central Laboratory of Clinical Biochemistry have reached a total of 1000
case files, before and after spa therapies, were examined. Blood analysis results
were taken into consideration retrospectively. Since some of the analysis results,
mostly after spa treatments were incomplete, patient counts were lesser. For the
data acquired prior and after spa, paired t test, was used to solve statistically.
Results
Serum Cholesterol (