Impact Assessment of Freshwater Sapropel Applications

Sapropel is an organic lake sediment formed by sedimentation and transformed into aquatic plant and organism residues along with mineral particles. It is a semi-renewable resource, consisting of fine-grained and friable continental water sediments with an organic matter content of not less than 15% in dry matter, consisting mainly of aquatic animal and plant residues.
Research into the clinical use of sapropel in medicine in Europe is a long-term issue. Sapropel's ability to retain heat for a long period of time ensures deep tissue warming, has a positive effect on the treatment of various joint and skin diseases. Research to date has mainly focused on the use of sapropel for other purposes, such as agriculture or cosmetology, thus failing to exploit the biomedical and biopharmaceutical potential of sapropel. Although there is no widely available information on improving the health of carpal tunnel patients with various applications of organogenic substances, various alternative therapies are widely used to improve the condition and the improvement of patients' health is even more important than surgical treatment. A Nine Hole Peg test was used to more accurately determine the effect of the sapropel and to investigate changes in finger and palm performance and fine motor before and after the application course of the sapropel.
Aim of project is to detect and measure the evidence of sapropel applications to the patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and create design of research.
The treatment effects will be assessed also using digital thermography, measurements by dinamometer, goniometer, at two points – right before the first procedure and right before the discharge from the hospital. Additionally, the patients will surveyed using special questionnaire.
Results:
• Nine-Hole Test is a convenient and easily accessible test method that provides rapid results on hand-wrist capabilities.
• Patients with carpal tunnel syndrome showed lower results in Nine Hole Peg test than those without such disorders.
This seemingly simple test is an essential diagnostic tool for patients with hand problems. Patients with carpal tunnel syndrome grips pegs more slowly, because this disease prevents the coordination of finger movements. This test can detect differences in the health of the wrist between sick and healthy people, thus providing important data for a variety of diseases and how they affect the state of the wrist.
The research was co-financed by project “Analysis of characteristics of medical sapropel and its usage for medical purposes and elaboration of industrial extraction methods”, No.1.1.1.1/16/A/165.