Summary
Twenty-eight patients with classical or definite rheumatoid arthritis were randomly divided into two groups of fourteen patients each. All patients were treated once a day with mud packs derived from the Dead Sea heated to 40°C and applied over the four extremities, neck and back for 20 minutes. Group 1 was treated with the true mud packs and Group 2 with washed out and less concentrated mud packs. The study was double blind and of two weeks duration. All patients were evaluated by one rheumatologist both before treatment and two weeks later at the end of the treatment period. Follow-up evaluations were made one and three months after conclusion of the treatment. The clinical indices evaluated included duration of morning stiffness, hand-grip strength, activities of daily living, patient's own assessment of disease activity, number of active joints and the Ritchie index. A statistically significant improvement (p<0.01 or p<0.05) was observed in Group 1 only in most of the clinical indices, lasting between 1 to 3 months.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cosh, J.A. The rheumatologist and the spa, a personal view. Royal Society of Health Journal, 1982, 102, 189–92.
Sukenik, S., Buskila, D., Neumann, L., Kleiner-Baumgarten, A., Zimlichman, S., Horowitz, J. Sulphur bath and mud pack treatment for rheumatoid arthritis at the Dead Sea area. Ann Rheum Dis 1990, 49, 99–102.
Sukenik, S., Neumann, L., Buskila, D., Kleiner-Baumgarten, A., Zimlichman, S., Horowiz, J. Dead Sea bath salts for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Exp Rheumatol 1990, 8, 353–57.
Ropes, M.W., Bennett, G.A., Cobb, S., Jacox, R., Jessar, R.A. Revision of diagnostic criteria for rheumatoid arthritis. Bull Rheum Dis, 1958, 9, 175–6.
Gold, B., Sukenik, S., Gavra, Z. Radioactivity and chemical composition of the therapeutic mud and hot spring baths in the Moriah spa, Dead Sea, Israel. In: Frontiers in Radiation Biology., Editor: Riklis, E., Balaban 1990, 625–30.
Ritchie, D.M., Boyle, J.A., McInnes, J.M. Clinical studies with an articular index for the assessment of joint tenderness in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Q J Med 1968, 37, 393–6.
Steirbrocker, O., Traeger, C.H., Batterman, R.C. Therapeutic criteria in rheumatoid arthritis. JAMA, 1949, 140, 659–62.
O'Hare, J.P., Heywood, A., Summerhayes, C., et al. Observations on the effects of immersion in bath spa water. Br Med J 1985, 291, 1747–51.
Arborelius, M., Ballidim, U., Lilja, B., Lungren, C. Hemoglobin changes in man during immersion head above water. Aerospase Medicine, 1972, 43, 592–8.
Rennie, D., Diprampero, P., Carretelli, P. Effects of water immersion on cardiac output, heart rate and stroke volume of man at rest and during exercise. Medicina dello sport 1971, 24, 223–8.
Shani, J., Barak, S., Levi, D. Skin penetration of minerals in psoriatic and guinea-pigs bathing in hypertonic salt solition. Pharmacol Res Commun 1985, 17, 501–23.
Neidermeier, W., Griggs, J.H. Trace metal composition of synovial fluid and blood serum of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. J Chron Dis 1971, 23, 527.
Morgenstern, H., Machtey, I. Serum zinc and copper levels in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 1983, 26, 933–4.
Svenson, K.L.G., Hallgren, R., Johanson, E., Lindh, V. Reduced zinc in peripheral blood cells from patients with inflammatory connective tissue diseases. Inflammation, 1985, 9, 189–99.
Alegre, C., Baro, J., Obach, J. Zinc and rheumatic disease. Arthritis Rheum, 1984, 27, 1073–4.
Mussalo-Rauhamea, H., Kontinen, Y.T., Lehto, J., Honkanen, V. Predictive clinical and laboratory parameters for serum zinc and copper in rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis, 1988, 47, 816–9.
Simkin, P.A. Oral zinc sulphate in rheumatoid arthritis. Lancet, 1976, 2, 539–42.
Rasker, J.J., Kardaun, S.H. Lack of beneficial effect of zinc sulphate in rheumatoid arthritis. Scand J Rheumatol 1982, 11, 168–70.
Cimmino, M.A., Mazzucotelli, A., Rovetta, G., Bianchi, G., Cutolo, M. The controversy over zinc sulphate efficacy in rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. Scand J Rheumatol, 1984, 13, 191–2.
Whitehouse, M.W., Rainsford, K.D., Taylor, R.M., Vernon-Roberts, B. Zinc monoglycerolate: A slow-release source of zinc with anti-arthritic activity in rats. Agents Actions, 1990, 31, 47–58.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sukenik, S., Buskila, D., Neumann, L. et al. Mud pack therapy in rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Rheumatol 11, 243–247 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02207966
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02207966