BACKGROUND: Cryotherapy is a physiotherapy method used to treat back pain in older persons.
OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the changes in the rheological parameters of blood in older women with spondyloarthrosis, who underwent whole-body cryotherapy.
METHODS: The experimental group comprised 69 older women with lumbar spondyloarthrosis, aged between 65 and 70 years. Due to the methodology of the procedure, the experimental group was randomly divided into three groups. Each group underwent two weeks of different types of physiotherapy: only whole-body cryotherapy (22 women); only kinesitherapy (23 women); and both cryotherapy and kinesitherapy (24 women). The control group comprised 25 women who did not undergo any form of therapy. The evaluation of the rheological properties of the blood encompassed measurements of the plasma viscosity, the erythrocyte elongation and aggregation indices, and the level of fibrinogen.
RESULTS: The conducted rheological tests revealed a significant decrease in the erythrocyte elasticity and aggregation indices only in the group of women who had undergone both whole-body cryotherapy and kinesitherapy.
CONCLUSIONS: Applying whole-body cryotherapy to older women with spondyloarthrosis decreases the elasticity of erythrocytes and, despite favourable changes in the aggregation parameters, problems with perfusion may still appear. For this reason, the benefit of using whole-body cryotherapy in these persons is debatable.
BanfiG., LombardiG., ColombiniA. and MelegatiG., Whole-body cryotherapy in athletes, Sports Med40(6) (2010), 509–617.
2.
BleakleyC.M., BieuzenF., DavisonG.W. and CostelloJ.T., Whole-body cryotherapy: Empirical evidence and theoretical perspectives, Open Access J Sports Med10(5) (2014), 525–536.
3.
ChatapG., De SousaA.,
GiraudK. and VincentJ.P., Pain in the elderly: Prospective study of hyperbaric CO2 cryotherapy (neurocryostimulation), Joint Bone Spine74(6) (2007), 617–621.
4.
GryglewskiA., Zastosowanie niskich temperatur w medycynie, Vadem Lek Rodz9 (2006), 60–63. Polish.
5.
AjmaniR.S. and RifkindJ.M., Hemorheological changes during human aging, Gerontology44(2) (1998), 111–120.
6.
CavestriR., RadiceL., FerrariniF. and LonghiniE., Influence of erythrocyte aggregability and plasma fibrinogen concentration on CBF with aging, Acta Neurol Scand85(4) (1992), 292–298.
7.
ChristyR.M., BaskurtO.K., GassG.C., GrayA.B. and Marshall-GradisnikS.M., Erythrocyte aggregation and neutrophil function in an aging population, Gerontology56(2) (2010), 175–180.
8.
CoppolaL., CasertaF., De LuciaD.,
GuastafierroS.,
GrassiaA.,
CoppolaA., et al., Blood viscosity and aging, Arch Gerontol Geriatr31(1) (2000), 35–42.
9.
ElwoodP.C., PickeringJ. and GallacherJ.E.J., Cognitive function and blood rheology: Results from the Caerphilly cohort of older men, Age and Aging30(2) (2001), 135–139.
10.
FeherG., KoltaiK., KesmarkyG., SzaparyL., JuricskayI. and TothK., Hemorheological parameters and aging, Clin Hemorheol Microcirc35(1-2) (2006), 89–98.
11.
SimpsonL.O. and O’NeillD.J., Red cell shape changes in the blood of people 60 years of age and older imply a role for blood rheology in the aging process, Gerontology49(5) (2003), 310–315.
BrojekW. and WarzochaA., Kriokomora – odpowiedzi na najczęściej zadawane pytania (cz. II), Acta Bio-Opt Inf Med3(12) (2006), 205–206. Polish.
14.
BaskurtO.K., BoynardM., CokeletG.C., ConnesP., CookeB.M., ForconiS., et al., International expert panel for standardization of hemorheological methods, New guidelines for hemorheological laboratory techniques, Clin Hemorheol Microcirc42(2) (2009), 75–97.
15.
BaskurtO.K., HardemanM., UyukluM., UlkerP., CengizM., NemethN., et al., Parametrization of red blood cell elongation index - shear stress curves obtained by ektacytometry, Scand J Clin Lab Invest69(7) (2009), 777–778.
16.
DąbrowskiZ. and
TeległówA.
, Hematologiczne i reologiczne zmiany w procesie starzenia. In:
MarchewkaA.,
DąbrowskiZ.,
ŻołądźJ., editors. Fizjologia starzenia się.rofilaktyka i rehabilitacja. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN; 2012, pp. 259–272. Polish.
17.
Tozzi-CiancarelliM.G., FedeleF., TozziE., Di MassimoC.,
OratoreA.,
De MatteisG., et al., Age dependent changes in human erythrocyte properties, Clin Hemorheol Microcirc9(6) (1989), 999–1007.
18.
WoodwardM., RumleyA., Tunstall-PedoeH. and LoweG.D., Associations of blood rheology and interleukin-6 with cardiovascular risk factors and prevalent cardiovascular disease, Brit J Haematol104(2) (1999), 246–257.
19.
BokenesL., AlexandersenT., TveitaT., OsterudB. and MercerJ., Physiological and hematological responses to cold exposure in the elderly, Int J Circumpolar Health59(3-4) (2000), 216–221.
20.
El-SayedM.S., Effects of exercise and training on blood rheology, Sports Med26(5) (1998), 281–292.
21.
JungF., RoggenkampH.G., RingelsteinE.B., LeipnitzG., SchneiderR., KiesewetterH. and ZellerH., Effect of sex, age, body weight, and smoking on plasma viscosity, Klin Wochenschr64 (1986), 1076–1081.
22.
BokenesL., AlexandersenT., TveitaT., OsterudB. and MercerJ., Physiological and hematological responses to cold exposure in young subjects, Int J Circumpolar Health63(2) (2004), 115–128.
23.
CabralesP. and IntagliettaM., Blood substitutes: Evolution from noncarrying to oxygen- and gas-carrying fluids, ASAIO J59(4) (2013), 337–354.
24.
HagerK., FelicettiM., SeefriedG. and PlattD., Fibrinogen and aging, Aging (Milano)6(2) (1994), 133–138.
25.
KovacsA., SzikszaiZ., VáradyE. and ImreS., Study on the hemorheological parameters of oldest-old residents in the East Hungarian city, Debrecin Clin Hemorheol Microcirc35(1-2) (2006), 83–88.
26.
IstratiJ., GłuszkoP., SuszkoR. and IwaniecT., Krioterapia ogólnoustrojowa zmniejsza aktywność fibrynolityczną krwi u chorych na reumatoidalne zapalenie stawów i osób z chorobą zwyrodnieniową stawów, Reumatologia48(3) (2010), 171–176. Polish.
27.
StanekA., CieslarG., StrzelczykJ., KasperczykS., Sieroń-StoltnyK., WiczkowskiA., et al., Influence of cryogenic temperatures on inflammatory markers in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, Pol J Env St19(1) (2010), 167–175.
28.
YalcinO., Bor-KucukatayM., SenturkU.K. and BaskurtO.K., Effects of swimming exercise on red blood cell rheology in trained and untrained rats, J Appl Physiol88(6) (2000), 2074–2080.
29.
LubkowskaA., SzygulaZ., KlimekA. and ToriiM., Do sessions of cryostimulation have influence on white blood cell count, level of IL6 and total oxidative and antioxidative status in healthy men?Eur J Appl Physiol109(1) (2010), 67–72.
30.
LubkowskaA., SzygułaZ., ChlubekD. and BanfiG., The effect of prolonged whole-body cryostimulation treatment with different amounts of sessions on chosen pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines levels in healthy men, Scand J Clin Lab Invest71(5) (2011), 419–425.
31.
LubkowskaA. and DołęgowskaB., and SzygułaZ., Whole-body cryostimulation – potential beneficial treatment for improving antioxidant capacity in healthy men – significance of the number of sessions, PLoS One7(10) (2012), e46352. [Available from: dx.doi.org/10.1371/jounal.pone.0046352, access date:2016-11-07].
32.
MillerE., Markiewiczł., SalukJ. and MajsterekI., Effect of short-term cryostimulation on antioxidative status and its clinical applications in humans, Eur J Appl Physiol112(5) (2012), 1645–1652.
33.
PodbielskaH. and SkrzekA., Zastosowanie niskich temperatur w biomedycynie. Wrocław: Oficyna Wydawnicza Politechniki Wrocławskiej; 2012. Polish.
