Balneotherapy in Kangal hot spring with fish

Abstract

SUMMARYBalneotherapy, although not a well-established dermatological treatment, is thought to have therapeutic properties for psoriasis and is used as an alternative treatment modality throughout the world. Balneotherapy refers to immersion in baths or pools of thermomineral water. This treatment offers a natural, multifactorial, complementary, and nontoxic alternative to the traditional pharmacologic treatments of psoriasis. The major dermatologic diseases that are frequently treated by balneotherapy with a high rate of success are psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Although a majority of clinical studies have used hypertonic Dead Sea water combined with phototherapy, Kangal Hot Spring is an important balneotherapy center in Turkey.

The physical, chemical, biological and geological properties of Kangal hot spring water and its use in the treatment of psoriasis

“…The amount of selenium in Kangal hot springwater was found to be 1.3 mgL -1 . Selenium and other elements; with its antioxidant, antiproliferative and immunomodulatory properties, it has two effects on skin diseases; systemic effect (by drinking) and local effect (penetration into the skin) (Özçelik and Hayta, 2015). According to the results of molecular docking, it is seen that the minerals in Kangal hot springwater have binding affinities to the cell membrane.…”

“…In recent years, new findings on disease-related immunological factors have fundamentally changed the treatment of psoriasis and introduced new drugs (Mrowietz et al, 2011). There is a case-controlled study in the international literature showing that Kangal hot spring is effective in the treatment of psoriasis patients, while there are various studies and anecdotal observations in the national literature reporting that it is effective in skin diseases, especially psoriasis (Sayili et al, 2007;Uysal et al, 2019;Özçelik et al, 2000;Grassberger and Hoch, 2006;Özçelik and Hayta, 2015;Duman and Şahan, 2017;Karaaslan et al, 2010a;Karaaslan et al, 2010b). With all this information, thermomineral waters that do not belong to any special water group are classified as mixed waters and the most common ones in these waters are chloride (Cl -), sulfate (SO4 -), bicarbonate (HCO3 -) anions and sodium (Na + ), calcium (Ca +2 ) and magnesium (Mg +2 ) cations.…”

“…The total flow rate of the pools was determined as 130 Ls -1 , electrical conductivity (EC) 530 μScm -1 , total mineralization range 590.9 mgL -1 and radioactivity 6 eman. The water composition of the Kangal fish spa water is given in Table 1 below (Değirmenci and Ünver, 2021;Özcelik et al, 2000;Özçelik and Hayta, 2015).…”