Whole-body cryotherapy
| Against allopathy Alternative medicine |
|
| Clinically unproven |
| Woo-meisters |
Not to be confused with the equally scientifically-unsupported-but-sci-fi-movie favourite cryonics, or the actually scientifically supported ideas of cryotherapy
or targeted temperature management, whole-body cryotherapy is a fabulous woo treatment to remove you of heat and money whilst still alive! Mostly![1]
From the Wouldn't-it-be-great-if-it-were-true Department comes whole-body cryotherapy (WBC), helpfully and easily confused with partial-body cryotherapy (PBC, same tube without a lid) so they can charge the same amount to fit the same size fool into a smaller box.
YAY! I HAVE COLDS!
How does it work?
It doesn't.[2]
Whilst Cryotherapy, or ice therapy, has a good body of supporting sciencey-type stuff to say 'mostly good',[3] Whole-body Cryotherapy involves placing a human wearing very little, often with some thermal protection for all extremities except their wallet, into a carbonite sheath/plastic vat marked 'gullible' and then introducing very low temperature, very low humidity air, cooled using liquid nitrogen or an air conditioner,[4] and an ongoing monthly subscription fee.
So yes, WBC/PBC does get you cold, but so does an ice bath.[4]
But what about all the wonderful claims of WBC/PBC helping with:
- Asthma
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Anxiety
- Chronic pain
- Depression
- Fibromyalgia
- Insomnia
- Migraines
- Multiple sclerosis
- Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Weight loss
and having too much money?
US FDA states that whole-body cryotherapy is 'meh' and might even be 'ouch'
According to the US FDA, the claims made by advocates of WBC/PBC are not backed up by science. Sorry.[5]
Did someone die from WBC?
The coroner said it was asphyxia from being locked in a whole-body cryotherapy sauna.[6]
References
- ↑ Nevada issues health guidelines for cryotherapyby Sally Ho (Saturday, November 21st 2015) KUTV (Associated Press)
- ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26383887
- ↑ Cryotherapy Medscape
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Muscle, Skin and Core Temperature after −110°C Cold Air and 8°C Water Treatment by Joseph Thomas Costello et al. (November 6, 2012) Plos One. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0048190
- ↑ whole-body cryotherapy (WBC): A "Cool" Trend that Lacks Evidence, Poses Risks U.S. Food & Drug Administration
- ↑ Cryotherapy death calls benefits of the health trend into question by Carina Storrs (Updated 2006 GMT (0406 HKT) October 28, 2015) CNN (December 2, 2015 archived copy)