Lombardi Giovanni, Ziemann Ewa, Banfi Giuseppe
Laboratory of Experimental Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, I.R.C.C.S. Istituto Ortopedico GaleazziMilan, Italy.
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Gdansk University of Physical Education and SportGdansk, Poland.
Front Physiol. 2017 May 2;8:258. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2017.00258. eCollection 2017.
Nowadays, whole-body cryotherapy is a medical physical treatment widely used in sports medicine. Recovery from injuries (e.g., trauma, overuse) and after-season recovery are the main purposes for application. However, the most recent studies confirmed the anti-inflammatory, anti-analgesic, and anti-oxidant effects of this therapy by highlighting the underlying physiological responses. In addition to its therapeutic effects, whole-body cryotherapy has been demonstrated to be a preventive strategy against the deleterious effects of exercise-induced inflammation and soreness. Novel findings have stressed the importance of fat mass on cooling effectiveness and of the starting fitness level on the final result. Exposure to the cryotherapy somehow mimics exercise, since it affects myokines expression in an exercise-like fashion, thus opening another possible window on the therapeutic strategies for metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. From a biochemical point of view, whole-body cryotherapy not always induces appreciable modifications, but the final clinical output (in terms of pain, soreness, stress, and post-exercise recovery) is very often improved compared to either the starting condition or the untreated matched group. Also, the number and the frequency of sessions that should be applied in order to obtain the best therapeutic results have been deeply investigated in the last years. In this article, we reviewed the most recent literature, from 2010 until present, in order to give the most updated insight into this therapeutic strategy, whose rapidly increasing use is not always based on scientific assumptions and safety standards.
如今，全身冷冻疗法是一种在运动医学中广泛应用的医学物理治疗方法。损伤恢复（如创伤、过度使用损伤）和赛季后恢复是其主要应用目的。然而，最近的研究通过强调潜在的生理反应证实了该疗法的抗炎、镇痛和抗氧化作用。除了治疗效果外，全身冷冻疗法已被证明是一种预防运动引起的炎症和酸痛有害影响的策略。新的研究结果强调了脂肪量对冷却效果的重要性以及初始健康水平对最终结果的重要性。接受冷冻疗法在某种程度上类似于运动，因为它以类似运动的方式影响肌动蛋白的表达，从而为肥胖和2型糖尿病等代谢疾病的治疗策略打开了另一个可能的窗口。从生化角度来看，全身冷冻疗法并不总是能引起明显的变化，但与初始状态或未治疗的匹配组相比，最终的临床效果（在疼痛、酸痛、压力和运动后恢复方面）往往会得到改善。此外，近年来还深入研究了为获得最佳治疗效果应采用的治疗次数和频率。在本文中，我们回顾了从2010年至今的最新文献，以便对这种治疗策略提供最新的见解，其使用的迅速增加并不总是基于科学假设和安全标准。
