01. AUGUST 2014
Deep in the Mountain:
Help for Children
with Asthma
Summer - Valle Aurina
Once miners dug through the mountains at the northern corner of South Tyrol-Südtirol’s Valle Aurina-Ahrntal with shovels and picks in order to
unearth copper. Today people sit in deck chairs 500 meters (1,600 feet) beneath the surface of the earth in the former mineshaft of Predoi-Prettau, and
they breathe in and out easier. The air in the so-called “Climate Mineshaft” is a relief for people with diseases of the breathing passages. The reason
for this? Since the relative humidity is at nearly one hundred percent, the few allergens that may make it into the depths bind with the moisture and settle
on the walls of the shaft instead of penetrating their way into the lungs. Once this cool and, at the same time, pure air is inhaled, it warms up and
removes fluid from the swollen mucous membranes.
The healing effect of the Predoi Climate Mineshaft has now been scientifically confirmed for the first time. In a unique study of twenty children (ages six
to fourteen) who suffer from chronic asthma, South Tyrol-Südtirol scientists from the Bolzano-Bozen regional hospital proved that a two week
breathing cure in the Climate Mineshaft significantly reduced the nitric oxide content in the breathing air of the children. This colorless, toxic gas is
formed at increased levels in the inflamed mucous membranes in the bronchial tubes. The reduction of the nitric oxide indicates a decrease in the
inflammation.
A similar positive, although not quite as good, result was achieved with children who completed two weeks of breathing and swimming exercises for
one hour every day in the Valle Aurina indoor swimming pool.
For a long time, it has been presumed that staying at a certain elevation and visiting baths and underground caves has a positive effect upon
asthmatic illnesses. Possibilities for alternative therapies are especially important for children who are affected, since medications that contain
cortisone are suspected of delaying growth and reducing the body’s own healing powers.
The study that was carried out is regarded as a first step in the Predoi Climate Mineshaft gaining recognition as a certified therapeutic institution.
Background Information
Contact person for the study “Children with Asthma in the Climate Mineshaft”
Helmuth Pörnbacher
Apollis OHG
Institut für Sozialforschung und Demoskopie
Dominikanerplatz 35
I – 39100 Bolzano (BZ) Italy
Tel.: +39 0474 970115
[email protected]
Predoi Climate Mineshaft: Breathing Freely, Deep Inside the Mountain
We have a happy coincidence in unhappy times to thank for the realization that air which has penetrated through meter-thick rock deep inside the
mountain has a beneficial effect upon those suffering from allergies or asthma. During the Second World War, when bombing attacks were flown
against Germany, the inhabitants of Ennepetal in North Rhine-Westphalia sought shelter in the Kluterthöhle cave. In the course of this, an attentive
doctor observed that people with chronic lung diseases felt increasingly better in the natural bunker. Today, cave therapy is used with illnesses such
as bronchial asthma and chronic bronchitis, but also with atopic dermititis and hay fever. The Predoi Climate Mineshaft, which was set up in 2003 in
the village’s former copper mine, is the only institution of this kind in all of Italy. Thousands of visitors are recorded every year.
Contact:
Predoi Climate Mineshaft
Hörmanngasse 38/a
I – 39030 Prettau (BZ)
ITALY
Tel.: +39 0474 654 523
www.ich-atme.com
[email protected]
Asthma: When the Bronchial Tubes Close Up
Around eighty million people in Europe suffer from allergic illnesses, with many of them suffering from asthma. Around one out of every ten children is
affected. With asthma, the mucous membranes in the bronchial tubes are inflamed and produce a tough mucous which leads to a constant urge to
cough, a whistling in the breathing, and a constricted feeling in the chest. During an acute asthma attack, the muscles in the bronchial wall also clench
up, which makes exhaling even more difficult.
A variety of stimuli can trigger asthma, including cold air, stress, or allergens ranging from pollen to tobacco smoke to animal hair. Researchers
presume that it is increasing environmental pollution and contaminants in the air which are the reasons for the greater and greater spread of asthma.
Contact:
Kronplatz Holiday Region
PR
Michael Pacher Str. 11 A
39031 Bruneck-Brunico
Phone:
+39 0474 553348
E-Mail:
[email protected]
Website:
www.ich-atme.com
Climatic gallery
Climatic gallery
Therapy in the climatic gallery
© Gandolfi
© Hansi Heckmair
© Gandolfi