Obesity: Cryostimulation of the whole body can help

Cryostimulation – also called cryotherapy – is a type of treatment that uses extremely low temperatures.

During whole-body cryostimulation, a person sits or stands in an enclosed chamber. Inside, the chamber is cooled with liquid nitrogen.

Depending on the type of room and therapy, the temperature in the room can range from -166 to -256 degrees Fahrenheit (-110 to -160 degrees Celsius). Because the cold temperatures are so extreme, sessions are limited to 3-4 minutes.

Whole-body cryostimulation has been used for years to help athletes to recover of injuries. Cryotherapy chambers can now be found in health clubs and gyms.

In addition, whole-body cryostimulation is now being explored as a therapy option for conditions such as diabetes, depressionAnd chronic pain.

It remains experimental, and the limited evidence supporting its effectiveness means it is not a Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatment. In addition, both the FDA and the American Academy of Dermatology warn people about the potential risks of whole-body cryostimulation, including frostbite, burns, and even suffocation.

For this study, Dr. Jacopo Fontana, a research scientist in the Research Laboratory in Biomechanics, Rehabilitation and Ergonomics at the Istituto Auxologico Italiano Piancavallo IRCCS at San Giuseppe Hospital in Oggebbio, Italy, and lead author of this study, and his team recruited 29 study Attendees.

They all had a BMI more than 30 kilograms per square meter, which is considered a sign of obesity. The study participants were all hospitalized for a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program, including a personalized diet plan, psychological support, and supervised exercise.

Study participants were not randomly assigned to either a group receiving 10 full-body 2-minute cryostimulation sessions over a 2-week period, or a control group receiving the same intervention at non-cryostimulating temperatures.

After analysis, the research team found that while both study groups experienced reduced levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and HDL and LDL cholesterol, the reduction was twice as much in the group that received whole-body cryostimulation.

“We weren’t surprised by this result, but we were more surprised to see such an effect already at -55 degrees, meaning that cryostimulation already has an effect at that temperature, albeit weaker,” Dr. Fontana. Medical news today.

In addition, the scientists found that while blood glucose and waist circumference measurements decreased in both study groups, they decreased much more in the whole-body cryostimulation group.

“We were surprised to see an effect as early as -55 degrees,” Dr. Fontana op.

“These results further emphasize the importance of temperature. This study even suggests that lower temperatures could not only have a stronger effect, but also a long-term modulatory effect on the autonomic nervous system and on the metabolic and haematological profile.”

—Dr. Jacopo Fontana

Dr. Fontana said that although the study participants were already participating in a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program, whole-body cryostimulation may help people who have poor adherence to rehabilitation protocols due to pain and inflammation due to its rapid anti-inflammatory and exercise-enhancing effects.

“Its effects on mood, sleep and fatigue may help reduce potential barriers to following rehabilitation programs in a variety of neurological and frail conditions,” he added.

“Improvements in fat and blood glucose have been particularly apparent, but larger controlled studies are needed in the future to define the cryoroom temperature, duration and frequency of exposure specific to the obesity condition and tailored to maximize benefits for this population.” ,” Dr. fonts added.

MNT also spoke to Dr. Mir Ali, a bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, not involved in the study, about this study.

He said some researchers have thought for some time that the common cold may help boost several strains fat cellsspeeding up the body’s metabolism to break down more fat.

“It doesn’t seem like a practical solution for significant weight loss,” continued Dr. Ali. “Maybe in addition to other modalities like diet, exercise, surgery, medications, but I don’t think it would be a viable weight loss solution on its own.”

“The biggest part of weight loss, whatever we do, is the diet,” he added. “We still need to change diet, we still need to make significant lifestyle changes to see significant results.”

According to dr. Fontana, the team decided to study the effect of whole-body cryostimulation on obesity because the effects of thermal stress on the physiological responses of the human body show unique features that could potentially be further exploited as an adjunctive treatment in the management of this condition. .

“A growing body of work suggests that whole-body cryostimulation could play a role as adjuvant therapy in various conditions of relevance to rehabilitation, as it may act as a ‘training method’ for the autonomic nervous system, a novel anti-inflammatory and antioxidant . treatment with beneficial effects on body composition and adipose tissue,” he said MNT.

This is not the first time cryostimulation has been used studied as a treatment for obesity. For example, a 2020 study found that whole-body cryotherapy helps reduce weight loss abdominal obesity in menopausal women.

And another study in 2015 found that whole-body cryostimulation aids lowering inflammation in obese men. However, one Literature review 2022 found that while results so far are promising, we have no definitive evidence of the effectiveness of whole-body cryostimulation in obesity, making larger, high-quality studies essential.