How Effective is Cold Therapy?

Slipping into a cold water bath for 20 minutes after exercise may seem more like punishment than relief for aching muscles, but many athletes and bodybuilders have relied on cold water therapy as a way to get relief for sore muscles after workouts.

Now, researchers are questioning whether cold water baths make your muscles feel better than other treatments, such as compression stockings or stretching.

A cold water bath—also known as cryotherapy—involves sitting in a tub of cold water for five to more than 20 minutes. In the 17 studies looked at, the water temperature ranged from 50 to 59 degrees Fahrenheit—similar to the ocean off the coast of Nova Scotia. Most treatments involved sitting in the water for the entire time, but in some studies, the participants stepped into and out of the water several times.

The researchers did find that cold water baths were better than resting or doing nothing, reducing muscle soreness by about 20%. However, it purely eased the feeling of soreness—it didn’t make the muscles stronger.

"It is important to consider that cold water immersion induces a degree of shock on the body,” lead researcher Dr. Chris Bleakley of the University of Ulster said. "We need to be sure that people aren't doing anything harmful, especially if they are exposing themselves to very cold water for long periods."

He added, "Most of these studies are done in pretty elite athletes. So, their physiological reserves are probably greater than most people. I think you have to be careful that you don't generalize these conditions to everyone."

Cold water baths should be avoided if you have a heart condition or a problem with circulation (such as Reynaud’s). Also, the quality of water should be considered. No one really wants to sit in a tub of water after 15 other sweaty guys with cuts and scrapes on their legs.

Researching the Sneeze and How to Handle It

THE paper products aisle generally is not seasonal, with consumers using about the same amount of toilet paper, napkins or paper towels every month. But not so with facial tissue: as cold and flu season rears its congested head, monthly sales increase as much as 65 percent over the summer months.

Generally that surge is good news for Kleenex, the Kimberly-Clark brand that invented facial tissue 87 years ago. But both Kleenex and Puffs, a Procter & Gamble brand, lost market share during the economic downturn to cheaper store brands.

In the 52 weeks that ended on June 13, 2010, for example, Kleenex sales dropped 5.5 percent from the previous year, and Puffs, a Procter & Gamble brand, dropped 3.2 percent, while store brands climbed 6.4 percent, according to SymphonyIRI Group data, which does not include Wal-Mart.

Now Kleenex has something it claims is a first: Along with lotion, Kleenex Cool Touch contains ingredients that promise cooling relief to sore noses. A Cool Touch commercial — by JWT New York, part of the WPP Group — is scheduled to be introduced Monday, and the campaign will include print and online advertising as well as social media marketing.

“This really is a game-changing innovation,” said Craig Smith, the brand director for Kleenex. “This is the only tissue that releases a cool sensation, and it takes soothing to a whole different level.”

Kleenex, which declined to reveal how much it will spend on the campaign, spent $51.9 million on advertising in 2010, compared with $29.5 million by Puffs, according to Kantar Media, a division of WPP.

Soon after being introduced in 1924 as a “sanitary cold cream remover” for women, who had tended to reuse towels for that purpose, a Kimberly-Clark researcher with hay fever began using Kleenex tissues for his sniffles, and advertising soon declared them “the handkerchief for health.”

Internal Kleenex research indicates that softness is the most important quality for 84 percent of facial tissue purchasers, but the company and its competitors still pursue other innovations to stand out on the shelf.

Puffs, for example, which began in 1960, introduced Puffs Plus with lotion in the United States in 1987, and Kleenex responded with its first lotion tissue in 1996.

In 2004, Kleenex introduced antiviral tissues, which promise to contain germs from sneezes better than conventional tissues.

And P&G in 2007 introduced Puffs Plus with the Scent of Vicks, a lotion-infused facial tissue that smells like menthol, with the selling point being not that Vicks helps comfort skin but rather that it has a comforting smell.

Kleenex Cool Touch, in contrast, is unscented. Among households that use facial tissue, 89 percent buy unscented varieties, while only 19 percent buy scented varieties, according to Mintel, a market research firm.

“We find that scent quite frankly is polarizing, with some who really enjoy it and some who don’t,” said Tracy Buelow, the Kleenex brand manager. “When consumers are doing excessive wiping, they get what they term a ‘hot, sore nose,’ and while cooling tissues counteract that hot and burning feeling, scent doesn’t address that need.”

What's going around?

This week, Grand Strand doctors are seeing a lot of upper respiratory illnesses going around.

At Beach Urgent Care, Dr. Ron Reynolds says he's seeing many patients suffering from an early start to cold season.

Symptoms include nasal drainage, low grade fever, sore throat and coughing.  He says it's affecting all ages and for the most part, antibiotics aren't needed.  Dr. Reynolds recommends fluids, rest and some good, old-fashioned chicken noodle soup.

At Seacoast Primary Care in Little River, Dr. Ray Holt is seeing a lot of bronchitis cases.  He says it starts with cold symptoms, but they tend to go away and leave behind a cough.

The cough may turn from dry to wet and Dr. Holt says Robitussin may help ease the cough at night.  He says you should see a doctor if the cough lasts more than a week, you feel short of breath or have a high fever.

At Grand Strand Pediatrics, Dr. Nick Colvard is seeing a lot of asthma flare ups.  He says it's probably due to the change in weather. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing and trouble breathing.

If you have these symptoms and they don't respond to your normal asthma medication, you should see your doctor as soon as possible.

Dr. Richard Joslin says he's seeing Doctor's Care Strand Office patients complaining about one of three things: summer colds, allergies or sinuses. Dr. Joslin says the symptoms are similar but the causes are different. He says summer colds are caused by viruses that are usually inhaled and can lead to a runny nose and occasional muscle aches.

If it's allergies, symptoms may include a runny nose and sneezing. A sinus infection tends to cause more stuffiness in the nose but at times may open up and run as well. A sinus infection is bacterial and generally starts as a cold.

Dr. Joslin says treatment for a cold depends on the symptoms. Over-the-counter medication may help treat a runny nose. You should also consume fluids and get rest. A sinus infection often requires an antibiotic, which means a trip to the doctor.

Allergies, if mild to moderate, can also be treated with over-the-counter medication, but if more severe, you may need a prescription.

GSK eyes healthier times beyond Q1 flu sales gap

A sharp fall in sales of flu products after last year's pandemic-linked windfall will weigh on GlaxoSmithKline's first-quarter results, but Britain's biggest drugmaker can point to better times ahead.

Exceptional demand for vaccines and anti-flu drug Relenza flattered results a year ago. Their absence means sales will fall nearly 10 percent when it reports at 1100 GMT on Wednesday.

Profits, however, should be cushioned by chunky disposal gains on the group's stake in Quest Diagnostics and the sale of North American rights to cold sore treatment Zovirax.


More important than the numbers will be confidence shown by management that the company's fortunes have reached a floor -- following the furore over diabetes drug Avandia and big generic hits in 2010 -- and it is now positioned for growth.

Dominic Valder of Evolution Securities believes GSK's sales and earnings will move to a sustainably positive trend from the second half of 2011 and setting a base-line for this improvement is his main focus for the quarterly results.

On paper, GSK has a comparatively robust growth profile through 2015 -- certainly compared to rival AstraZeneca, where sales are expected to fall over the next five years -- but this is arguably already reflected in its rating.

GSK shares trade at around 10.9 times this year's forecast earnings, slightly above Novartis on 10.4 and well above sector laggards like AstraZeneca and Sanofi-Aventis on 7.2 and 7.9 times respectively.

As with Novartis, which has multiple sclerosis medicine Gilenya to interest investors, GSK also has a ground-breaking new drug in Benlysta, for lupus -- though the British group has to share its profits with Human Genome Sciences.

Pharmaceutical companies across the globe are grappling with U.S. healthcare reforms and a push by cash-strapped governments in Europe to slash the prices of drugs, along with competition from cheaper generic treatments.

That means new products which really make a difference to patients are more important than ever.

So far, European drugmakers have had a mixed first-quarter report card, with Novartis last week beating expectations on the back on strong sales of its newer drugs, while Swiss rival Roche disappointed on April 14.