"Vitalizing" effects have often been reported by patients treated with hyperthermia in various indications.
The physiotherapist and psychoneuroimmunologist Kay-U. Hanusch who was responsible for overseeing whole-body hyperthermia treatments at Aeskulap-Klinik Brunnen in Switzerland began to use validated tools to assess depression scores in patients treated in the heckel-HT2000 and described an unexpectedly long-lasting positive effect. Literature WBH
Based on these experiences a study headed by Dr. Charles Raison at the University of Arizona used a randomized double-blinded controlled trial comparing a treatment in the heckel-HT3000 with temperature increase to 38.5 - 39°C to a treatment in a sham device (manipulated heckel-HT3000). READ MORE:
The verum group showed a strong positive outcome that was significantly better than the sham group. This effect was rapid-acting and could be observed even six weeks after one single treatment.
The patients treated in this study did not take anti-depressive drugs, since Hanusch's early experiences suggested that the effect of WBH could be counteracted by these drugs.
The Arizona study was published from Janssen CW et al. in JAMA Psychiatry and has aroused a lot of interest in further research on this novel safe and non-toxic approach to treating of depression (Janssen et al 2016).
