Published date: Oct 04 2024

Journal Title: KnE Life Sciences

Issue title: 4th International Conference in Social Science (4th ICONISS): Healthcare

Pages: 23–33

DOI: 10.18502/kls.v8i2.17355

Rhea Veda Nugrahadr.rheaveda@gmail.comDepartment of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani, Cimahi

Daffa Muhammad RhamdanFaculty of Medicine, Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani, Cimahi

Ria Ardia Kartika SariFaculty of Medicine, Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani, Cimahi

Halotherapy (HT) is part of salt therapy derived from speleotherapy/speleoclimate, which comes from using a micro size of dry salt in aerosol form (such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and sodium chloride) with stable air temperature (18–24ºC) and moderate to high humidity (40–60%) for inhalation inside a cave/imitation cave since the nineteenth century. The benefits of HT as an adjuvant may help patients with many medical conditions, especially respiratory and dermatology diseases. This therapy is believed to alleviate inflammation and the immune response and improve respiratory function, etc. The clinical benefits of HT are advocated, but the mechanisms still need to be explicitly elucidated. This study’s main objective is to critically review and evaluate the evidence from existing literature of HT efficacy as an adjuvant therapy for respiratory disease in a narrative review. This review used a systematic approach and narrative synthesis. PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) were searched. Based on preset selection criteria, two reviewers separately looked over abstracts and chose relevant papers. HT improves mucociliary elimination, diminishes airway inflammation, and improves pulmonary function. This adjuvant therapy is safe and does not cause serious adverse events. Therefore, this therapy should be considered an adjuvant therapy for respiratory diseases because of its potential effects. However, scientific evidence of the effectiveness of HT is limited. High-quality further research is required to ascertain the effectiveness of this treatment for respiratory conditions.

Keywords: adjuvant, halotherapy, respiratory diseases, salt therapy, therapy

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