In the group treated with thermal water, improvement occurred earlier, lasted longer and was statistically significant.

Effect of thermal water with high mineral content on clinical parameters and quality of life of patients with chronic low back pain was studied. In this randomized controlled, single-blind, follow-up study, 60 patients with chronic low back pain were randomized into two groups. The treatment group received balneotherapy with thermal-mineral water, and the control group bathed in tap water. Changes of the followings were evaluated: visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, range of motion for the lumbar spine, Oswestry index, EuroQol-5D and Short Form-36 questionnaires. In the treatment group, the mobility of the lumbar spine, the Oswestry index, the VAS scores and the EuroQoL-5D index improved significantly. SF-36 items improved significantly in the treated group compared with baseline except for two parameters. Our study demonstrated the beneficial effect of balneotherapy with thermal mineral versus tap water on clinical parameters, along with improvements in quality of life.

Balneotherapy combined with magnetotherapy improved the pain and function as well as the quality of life in patients with hand osteoarthritis.

During the hibernation season, hibernating mammals show a sequence of torpor bouts that are interrupted by periodic arousals and brief normothermic periods. The functional significance of periodic arousals is still uncertain. We hypothesized that the imbalances in water economy may play a role in the timing of periodic arousals in hibernating species. We applied furosemide, a diuretic drug, to assess whether hibernating European ground squirrels respond to elevated urine production by shortening their torpor bouts. Urine production in the treated squirrels increased and led to more frequent arousals, presumably to restore water balance by recovery of lost water from blood and tissues. The length of the subsequent normothermic phase was not affected by the diuretic treatment. Body mass change correlated primarily with the amount of voided urine. Although our study did not identify the underlying mechanism, our results support the view that water economy, and water loss may play a role in the timing of periodic arousals.

Translocating European ground squirrels Spermophilus citellus has become a popular conservation tool. However, few release techniques have been carefully evaluated. To contribute to an evidence‐based ground squirrel translocation guide for wildlife managers, we evaluated conditions of habitat manipulation (grass height and artificial burrow entrance angle) which we expected to affect settlement of translocated ground squirrels during the critical period after release. In a field experiment, we translocated 173 individuals in southeastern Hungary in 2007. We released the animals into angled or vertical artificial burrows and manipulated grass height. We found that animals preferred angled (∼ 30°) artificial burrows, which facilitate digging, and medium‐height grass (18 cm ± 1.5). Moreover, although ground squirrels generally are associated with short grass habitats, overhead protection by grasses is valuable after a translocation. This result implies that in order to accomplish a translocation, it is not sufficient to only know the habitat preference of a species in undisturbed situations, but also how and to what extent habitat characteristics should be manipulated to increase the chances of success.