Jan 31, 14:00

Health feed - News BreaK Tuesday, January 31, 2023 1:33 PM
     The Biden administration will bring the years-long Covid-19 emergency declarations to an end on May 11, the White House announced Monday, as part of a pivot to treat the...
Health feed - News BreaK Tuesday, January 31, 2023 1:31 PM
     Shoshana Zuboff calls Musk and Zuckerberg "information oligarchs" and thinks decision-making power lying with a few top-ranked executives can threaten democracy.
Health feed - News BreaK Tuesday, January 31, 2023 1:17 PM
     President Joe Biden intends to end the Covid-19 national and public health emergencies on May 11, the White House said Monday. That means that many Americans could have to...
Health feed - News BreaK Tuesday, January 31, 2023 1:17 PM
     The city of Monterey Park wants its residents to know about all the resources available for mental health support and counseling as the city continues to recover from the mass...
Health feed - News BreaK Tuesday, January 31, 2023 1:13 PM
     The 27 page law amends four existing health care laws and enacts four more to regulate healthcare for trans youth.
Health feed - News BreaK Tuesday, January 31, 2023 1:11 PM
     President Joe Biden intends to end the Covid-19 national and public health emergencies on May 11, the White House said Monday. That means that many Americans could have to...
Health feed - News BreaK Tuesday, January 31, 2023 1:03 PM
     Tips and tricks to get help now.
Health feed - News BreaK Tuesday, January 31, 2023 12:59 PM
     The Minnesota Republican served three terms and championed health care reform and protecting rights for disabled people, including the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act.
Health feed - News BreaK Tuesday, January 31, 2023 12:49 PM
     An aspiring chaplain must complete her yearlong residency at NYC's Mount Sinai Hospital during a particularly dark period for public health in A Still Small Voice, the latest...
Health feed - News BreaK Tuesday, January 31, 2023 12:27 PM
     The U.S. has the lowest life expectancy and the highest maternal mortality rates compared to other high-income countries.
WebMD Health Tuesday, January 31, 2023 1:10 PM
     A new study suggests people who stay married for the long haul may gain some protection from dementia.
WebMD Health Tuesday, January 31, 2023 1:05 PM
     New research suggests.people who have autism feel pain at a higher intensity than others, which is the opposite of what many believe to be true.
WebMD Health Tuesday, January 31, 2023 10:36 AM
     In How Medicine Works and When It Doesn't, F. Perry Wilson, MD, guides readers through the murky and often treacherous landscape of modern medicine.
Mark's Daily Apple Tuesday, January 31, 2023 11:00 AM
    

Technically, "cryotherapy" refers to any method of using cold therapeutically. Icing a sprained ankle, freezing off a wart, or sitting in an ice bath after a game of Ultimate Frisbee are all forms of cryotherapy. Today, though, I'm using the term cryotherapy to refer specifically to whole-body and partial-body cryotherapy chambers. Cryotherapy chambers use electric cooling or liquid nitrogen to expose users to super-chilled air in order to achieve various (supposed) benefits. The technology dates back to the late 1970s, and it used to be pretty niche, reserved mostly for top-level athletes and people with specialized medical needs. Now, cryo centers have popped up all over the place, and you can easily book yourself an appointment for any old reason.  Even if you've never visited one yourself, you can probably picture what I'm talking about here. A cryo chamber usually looks like a person-sized tin can that you stand up or lie down in, sort of reminiscent of polio-era iron lungs. You might go in with your entire body (whole-body cryo), or your head might stick out the top (partial-body cryo). Sometimes, though, a cryotherapy chamber is just a small room. The air inside isn't just cold. It's really, really cold, typically between -200 and -300 degrees Fahrenheit, or below -100 degrees Celsius. (You can also do targeted cryotherapy using a wand to blast a small area with cold air. I won't be talking about that today because most research focuses on chambers.)  I've extolled the virtues of cold therapy before. Cold exposure is a simple and, I'd argue, adaptive way to fight inflammation, boost immunity, and build mental and physical fortitude. My modalities of choice are cold plunges and taking advantage of cold weather, but cryotherapy potentially offers many, maybe even all, of the same benefits.  The questions at hand today are whether cryotherapy chambers are worth trying and whether they offer anything special compared to other types of cold therapy. How Does Cryotherapy Work? When you go in for a cryotherapy session, you'll strip down to only the bare essentials needed to protect your extremities and delicate bits (socks, shoes, or booties, gloves, underwear, and, if your head is in the chamber, ear covering and face mask). After a brief cool-down session, you step into the chamber. Due to the extreme temperature, the session will last only one to three minutes, never more than five minutes. When exposed to very cold stimuli, several important things happen in the body: Vasoconstriction, which pulls blood toward the core and improves blood oxygenation and subsequent delivery of oxygen to muscles. When applied to an injured area, this prevents blood from pooling at the site and helps prevent secondary injury.  Anti-inflammatory response, characterized by lower pro-inflammatory and higher anti-inflammatory markers. Analgesic effects to reduce pain. Lowered oxidative stress. Autonomic nervous system stimulation, or activation of the "rest-digest-repair" nervous system, as evidenced by changes in HRV and catecholamines (stress hormones).  None of these is unique to cryotherapy chambers. Any type of cold exposure … Continue reading "What Is Cryotherapy And Should You Try It?"

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