Need a little Speleotherapy?

This post has nothing to do with spelling, but the word “speleotherapy” is a new word for me. If you’re wondering just what the word means, I’ll give you a hint: it has something to do with salt, and salt-mines in particular.

Back in the 1950’s it was discovered that salt miners rarely suffered from tuberculosis or other respiratory diseases. Working with that idea, they came up with a treatment called speleotherapy which puts asthma patients into abandoned salt mines to breathe in the cool, salty air. And apparently, it works.

Patients ensconced in the Solotvyno Salt Mines in the Ukraine

For decades, doctors have lined up patients  in the tunnels of the Solotvyno Salt Mines where the airborne salts kill off respiratory bacteria and make it easier for the patients to breathe.  The salt mines lie hundreds of meters below the surface and the tunnels are considered dangerous, but that hasn’t stopped researchers and patients from making their way there year after year.

An interesting idea and possibly a new way of looking at therapies.  You can read the full article here and view more photos of the salt mines (which I must say, looks to be VERY primitive and slightly scary).  Your challenge for today is to work this new word into regular conversation!