Therapeutic Application of a Cold Chest Pack in Bronchial Asthma
N.K. Manjunath and Shirley Telles

 

Abstract: In natural medicine, application of a cold chest pack for 30 min daily over a period of time is believed to improve lung functions in bronchial asthmatics. However there has been no scientific evaluation of this treatment. Hence the present study was carried out on 15 medication-free bronchial asthma patients (2 males) with ages from 19 to 42 years. The peak expiratory  flow  rate  (PEFR, in l/min) was  recorded before, during and after a 30 min application of a cold chest pack. This treatment was carried on for 21 days, during which the patients received other naturopathy treatments such as fasting, diet changes, hydrotherapy, massage, magnetotherapy, color therapy and application of mud packs, along with yoga therapy. The PEFR and symptom scores of the patients were assessed on Days 1 and 21. The results were analyzed using a two factor ANOVA and paired-t-test, which showed a significant increase in the PEFR recorded on Day 21 compared to Day 1 values, as well as immediately after the chest pack compared to the before values on day 21. Also, the symptom scores have significantly reduced following the 21 days of naturopathy treatment. The results suggest that (I) an application of a cold chest pack increases the PEFR as an immediate effect and (ii) this effect is augmented following 21 days of other naturopathy treatments along with yoga.

INTRODUCTION
The  reversible  bronchoconstriction  which is characteristic of bronchial asthma was observed to respond favorably to changes   in   diet,   yoga   practices and  to  other patients reported a feeling of well being, freshness and non-pharmacological externally applied treatments. The earliest study on yoga suggested that Transcendental Meditation was a useful adjunct in treating bronchial asthma [2]. A later controlled trial with fifty three patients each in yoga and control groups showed greater improvement in for drug treatment, peak flow rate and decreased weekly attacks of asthma following two weeks of yoga [3]. Another study evaluated the effect of a single yoga technique (kunjal) and showed definite subjective and objective improvements during the week they practiced yoga as well as improved symptoms after three weeks [4]. Apart from yoga, several non-pharmacological treatments have been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of bronchial asthma. The changes in ventilatory function was examined in 37 patients with steroid-dependent intractable asthma (SDIA) following spa therapy [5]. There were significant improvements in Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR), which suggested that the spa therapy improves the condition of small airways disorder in patients with SDIA. Another study evaluated the usefulness of Naturopathy intervention (a combination treatments including massage, hydrotherapy, color therapy, fasting and diet therapy, mud application and yoga therapy) in bronchial asthma patients [6]. The results suggested that there was a significant improvement in PEFR, VC, FVC, FEV1, FEV/FEC%, MVV (Maximum Voluntary Ventilation) and absolute eosinophil count. The patients reported a feeling of well being, freshness and comfortable breathing. Hence it was concluded that Naturopathy and yoga helps in inducing positive health, alleviating the symptoms of disease by acting at physical and mental levels. A cold chest pack which is used as a treatment of choice in naturopathy along with hot foot and arm bath for bronchial asthma is believed to reduce pulmonary congestion, decrease pulmonary mucus membrane irritation and increase the depth of respiration [7]. Since there are no studies conducted to evaluated the effects of a cold chest pack in isolation on pulmonary functions in bronchial asthma patients, the present study was conducted to evaluate the immediate effect of a cold chest pack on the Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) and whether the immediate effect would change after 21 days of treatment with other natural remedies and yogic practices in bronchial asthma patients.