Head Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Aga Khan University, Member Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). According to a news report, Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation has set up an Asthma Cure Center at Khewra at a cost of Rs 10 million.
Asthma is a major health problem in Pakistan and approximately 5-10% of the population is suffering from this disease. In this condition, the air tubes, through which we breathe, are hypersensitive to various environmental agents including dust, pollen, fumes, etc.
Episodic cough, chest tightness, shortness of breath and wheezing are its typical symptoms. Standard treatment of this condition includes avoidance of known precipitating factors and use of certain anti inflammatory medications either in the form of inhalers or tablets. Various forms of alternative method of treatment are also widely practised but none has shown to be of any proven value.
This new asthma treatment called Speleotherapy (staying in underground environments) is believed to be of some benefit to people with asthma, although there is little scientific evidence to prove it. People spend short periods in specifically designated caves or mines, doing particular physical or breathing exercises.
Benefits are believed to come from air quality, underground climate, air pressure or radiation. No evidence from randomised controlled clinical trials is available and more research is needed before this type of treatment is recommended to the public.
This treatment is not approved in most developed countries including USA or UK. Breathing air at a salt mine resort as a method of treatment for asthma is also not recommended by any international guidelines, the latest one was released by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) just it few months ago.
In fact, Asthma guidelines published by Pakistan Chest Society in 2006 have discouraged the public from using alternative methods for treating asthma. After reading this news item, several asthma patients rang me to inquire whether they should go to this holiday resort in order to treat their chronic asthma or not.
None of the international experts on asthma recommends this form of treatment for their patients. It is indeed sad that while the poor asthma patients in this country are suffering because of the high cost of medicines, the government has millions to spend on the treatment which is of no proven value.
If the Government is really interested in improving the quality of life of asthma patients then they should make arrangements for providing low cost inhaled corticosteroid inhaler to all asthma patients in Pakistan. This single step can help millions of asthma sufferers in this country.