The effect of balneotherapy on body mass index, adipokine levels, sleep disturbances, and quality of life of women with morbid obesity

Abstract

To investigate the effect of balneotherapy on body mass index, adipokine levels, sleep disturbances, and quality of life in women with morbid obesity. Fifty-four women with morbid obesity were included in the study. The body mass indexes (BMI) and waist/ hip ratios (WHR) of the women were calculated. Subcutaneous fat thickness was measured using a *skinfold meter, and the percentage of adipose tissue was calculated. The *Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess sleep quality, and the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) was used to assess quality of life. In addition to routine biochemical tests, leptin, adipokine, visfatin from blood, and cortisol from saliva samples were studied. Participants were given 15 sessions of balneotherapy for 20 min each. After treatment, the laboratory and clinical parameters of the participants were *reevaluated. There was no statistically significant difference of BMI, WHR, and percentage of adipose tissue between before and after treatment measurements (p ˃ 0.05).There was a statistically significant improvement in PSQI and NSP scores (p ˂ 0.001). The levels of blood glucose, leptin, and visfatin were significantly decreased, and adiponectin was significantly increased after treatment (p = 0.047, p ˂ 0.001, p ˂ 0.001, and p ˂ 0.001, respectively).There was no statistically significant changes in salivary cortisol levels (p = 0.848). Patients with diabetes showed a statistically significant decrease in glucose levels after treatment (p = 0.017).There was a statistically significant decrease in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in patients with dyslipidemia compared with pretreatment (p = 0.018). Balneotherapy improves sleep and quality of life of women with morbid obesity. After balneotherapy, glucose, leptin, adiponectin, and visfatin levels may change positively.

Public interest in spa therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic: analysis of Google Trends data among Turkey

“…These spas have experienced multidisciplinary rehabilitation teams (e.g., spa physicians, physical therapists, physiotherapists, and rehabilitation nurses) to provide and adjust the rehabilitation program to the individual patient’s needs. Although spa therapy has yet no evidence specific to COVID-19, it and its interventions (e.g., balneotherapy, peloid therapy, aquatic exercises, and exercise) have been demonstrated beneficial in improving fatigue, dyspnea, pain, and depression/ anxiety, and in increasing quality of life of patients who have these symptoms, in many reviews and numerous clinical studies (Kamioka et al 2020 ; Khaltaev et al 2020 ; Munteanu et al 2019 ; Baldi et al 2015 ; Fioravanti et al 2010 , 2018 ; Rapolienė et al 2020 ; Király et al 2020 ; Gay et al 2020 ; Bernetti et al 2020 ; Varzaityte et al 2020 ; Dilekçi et al 2019 , 2020 ; Eröksüz et al 2020 ; Yuan et al 2019 ; Cozzi et al 2020 ; Gálvez et al 2020 ; Corvillo et al 2020 ; Pérez-Fernández et al 2019 ; Peultier-Celli et al 2019 ; Hanzel et al 2019 ; Yücesoy et al 2019 ; Özkuk and Di̇lekçi̇ 2019 ; Masiero et al 2020c ; Tenti et al 2020 ; Koçak et al 2020 ; Özkuk and Uysal 2019 ; Cantista and Maraver 2020 ; Cheleschi et al 2020 ; Özkuk and Ateş 2020 ; Min et al 2020 ; Prossegger et al 2019 ; Persiyanova-Dubrova et al 2019 ). Interestingly, hypothetical and theoretical backgrounds of using spas as rehabilitation facilities for post-COVID-19 patients have been discussed in several articles (Maccarone et al 2020 ; Masiero et al 2020a , b; Antonelli and Donelli 2020 ; Kardeş 2020b ).…”

Commentary: Comparison of an Innovative Rehabilitation, Combining Reduced Conventional Rehabilitation With Balneotherapy, and a Conventional Rehabilitation After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in Athletes

“…While the hybrid methodology shows promise in these cohorts, a future analysis ought to be performed on non-athlete cohorts. For example, there is literature which shows improved metabolic effects after a balneotherapy regimen in those who have a greater body mass index ( 9 ), but do the effects of implementing a transition from a traditional to aquatic rehabilitation medium generate a different change among this cohort? If there is a greater improvement in metabolism through this hybrid style, it could potentially be considered to be included in the ACL rehabilitation guidelines among the morbid obese.…”

Heat Therapy Can Improve Hepatic Mitochondrial Function and Glucose Control

“…Central to appreciating the clinical utility of heat therapy in patients with NAFLD is reviewing its use in other diseases characterized by metabolic dysfunction. Similar to the well-known effects of exercise, heat therapy has proven effective in improving the metabolic risk profile of patients with T2DM (65–67) and PCOS (54), and also improves cardiovascular risk profile in young, sedentary adults (68).…”