Publications
The safety of salt pipes in asthmatic patients
Salt pipes are commercially available products which are advertised for use in a wide range of respiratory conditions, including asthma. They use micronized salt crystals which are inspired into the lungs. Advocats of the device propose that they enhance sputum clearance from the lungs with resultant improvement in breathing.1, 2 However, there is a lack of robust clinical efficacy and safety data available to support this claim. Airway hyperresponsiveness is a characteristic feature of asthma and results in an exaggerated bronchoconstrictive reaction of the airways to nonspecific stimuli. Only a small volume of hypertonic saline is needed to provoke airway narrowing in patients with asthma.3 Hence, concern remains that salt pipes may provoke a bronchoconstrictive response particularly in potentially susceptible asthmatic subjects.
- Authors
Wilson M, Hunt EB, Bowen BR, Plant BJ, Byrne S, Murphy DM.
- Year
- 2016
- Journal Name
- The Clinical Respiratory Journal
- Category
- Journal Article
- Link to Publication
- https://doi.org/10.1111/crj.12506
Abstract
Salt pipes are commercially available products which are advertised for use in a wide range of respiratory conditions, including asthma. They use micronized salt crystals which are inspired into the lungs. Advocats of the device propose that they enhance sputum clearance from the lungs with resultant improvement in breathing.1, 2 However, there is a lack of robust clinical efficacy and safety data available to support this claim. Airway hyperresponsiveness is a characteristic feature of asthma and results in an exaggerated bronchoconstrictive reaction of the airways to nonspecific stimuli. Only a small volume of hypertonic saline is needed to provoke airway narrowing in patients with asthma.3 Hence, concern remains that salt pipes may provoke a bronchoconstrictive response particularly in potentially susceptible asthmatic subjects.