The oil-dispersion bath in anthroposophic medicine – an integrative review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Anthroposophic medicine offers a variety of treatments, among others the oil-dispersion bath, developed in the 1930s by Werner Junge. Based on the phenomenon that oil and water do not mix and on recommendations of Rudolf Steiner, Junge developed a vortex mechanism which churns water and essential oils into a fine mist. The oil-covered droplets empty into a tub, where the patient immerses for 15–30 minutes. We review the current literature on oil-dispersion baths.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The following databases were searched: Medline, Pubmed, Embase, AMED and CAMbase. The search terms were 'oil-dispersion bath' and 'oil bath', and their translations in German and French. An Internet search was also performed using Google Scholar, adding the search terms 'study' and 'case report' to the search terms above. Finally, we asked several experts for gray literature not listed in the above-mentioned databases. We included only articles which met the criterion of a clinical study or case report, and excluded theoretical contributions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among several articles found in books, journals and other publications, we identified 1 prospective clinical study, 3 experimental studies (enrolling healthy individuals), 5 case reports, and 3 field-reports. In almost all cases, the studies described beneficial effects – although the methodological quality of most studies was weak. Main indications were internal/metabolic diseases and psychiatric/neurological disorders.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Beyond the obvious beneficial effects of warm bathes on the subjective well-being, it remains to be clarified what the unique contribution of the distinct essential oils dispersed in the water can be. There is a lack of clinical studies exploring the efficacy of oil-dispersion baths. Such studies are recommended for the future.</p

Nitrogen deposition along differently exposed slopes in the Bavarian Alps.

The Alps are affected by high nitrogen deposition, particularly in the fringe of the Northern and Southern Alps. In the framework of a two-year monitoring study performed in 2010 and 2011, we investigated the ammonia and nitrogen dioxide air concentration and ammonium and nitrate deposition at different altitudes between 700 and 1600ma.s.l. in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district in the Upper Bavaria region (Germany). Four-weekly measurements of deposition collected with bulk open field samplers and under-crown were performed in a profile perpendicular to the axis of the Loisach valley; measurements were conducted at eight sites. Whereas open field deposition ranged from 5 to 11kgha(-1)a(-1), nitrogen throughfall has reached up to 21kgha(-1)a(-1). Data from the valley and the slopes were compared with measurements performed on the platform of the Environmental Research Station Schneefernerhaus (Zugspitze) at an altitude of 2650ma.s.l. For the rough estimation of the total yearly deposition rate of nitrogen, the canopy uptake model was applied. By regarding nitrogen uptake by the trees, total deposition can exceed the throughfall in all sites by up to 50%. Additionally, we estimated the total deposition from the sum of wet and dry deposition. On the one side, the wet deposition could be extrapolated from the open field deposition. On the other side, we used the inferential method to calculate the dry deposition on the basis of NH3 and NO2 air concentrations and their literature based deposition velocities. Since fixed deposition velocities are inappropriate particularly in complex orography, we tried to find correction factors based upon terrain characteristics and meteorological considerations. Temperature monitoring at the eight sites and wind measurements at two sites provided some evidence for the semi-empirical parameterization. Due to numerous imponderabilities, the results of the two methods were not consistent for all sites