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| |  ECF: Forced Ionization By Salt Sublimation May Improve Respiratory Symptoms in Cystic Fibrosis By Martin Goldman Special to DG News
VIENNA, AUSTRIA -- June 8, 2001 -- Forced ionization of indoor air by salt sublimation may improve respiratory symptoms in cystic fibrosis (CF), said a researcher in a presentation at the 24th European Cystic Fibrosis conference in Vienna, Austria. In an effort to find effective medical treatments in post-communist societies where there is little chance of using modern, expensive therapies for the treatment of chronic diseases, Dr. Iona Popa and colleagues from a paediatric clinic in Buzau, Romania investigated a novel use for the Salin air-purifying device in patients with CF. The value of exposure to high salt environments is well established as ancillary treatment, and the Dead Sea Clinic is well known as a therapeutic environment for CF patients. The Salin device attempts to emulate this environment indoors by forcing ionization of indoor air by salt sublimation. Using an internal electric fan, air is passed through plates with sediment layers of microcrystallized salt. The manufacturers recommend about eight to 10 hours of exposure daily. In the blinded study, Dr. Popa investigated 18 patients, aged three to 17 years old, with mild to severe cystic fibrosis. Seventy percent were classified as having mild CF and 30 percent were severe. The patients were graded depending on their FEV1, colonisation with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and other respiratory complications. Whilst detailed analysis was not presented, it was noted that patients (especially the more severely affected) exposed to the active ionization device were rated, by their parents, to be subjectively better. Objective pulmonary function testing in eight patients showed improvement from pre-treatment FEV1, and the patients in the dummy treatment arm showing no improvement in FEV1. On clinical examination, the patients receiving the active treatment were noted to have increased sputum volumes initially followed by a reduction, and less physical signs in the chest on auscultation. The authors concluded that forced ionization of room air represented an efficient adjuvant treatment for patients with CF and might represent a practical alternative to treatments that are not yet available in the region such as DNA’se, an enzyme that digests DNA. This preliminary report lacks proper statistical design and analysis but the results are sufficiently interesting to warrant further investigation of what is a convenient and cheap treatment which could be used alongside conventional therapy. No patients were withdrawn because of any untoward reaction to the treatment.
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