Combination of whole body cryotherapy with static stretching exercises reduces fatigue and improves functioning of the autonomic nervous system in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Sławomir Kujawski; Joanna Słomko; Beata R Godlewska; Agnieszka Cudnoch-Jędrzejewska; Modra Murovska; Julia L Newton; Łukasz Sokołowski; Paweł Zalewski

doi:10.1186/s12967-022-03460-1

Combination of whole body cryotherapy with static stretching exercises reduces fatigue and improves functioning of the autonomic nervous system in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

J Transl Med. 2022 Jun 17;20(1):273. doi: 10.1186/s12967-022-03460-1.

Authors

Sławomir Kujawski¹, Joanna Słomko², Beata R Godlewska³, Agnieszka Cudnoch-Jędrzejewska⁴, Modra Murovska⁵, Julia L Newton⁶, Łukasz Sokołowski², Paweł Zalewski^{2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Exercise Physiology and Functional Anatomy, Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Świętojańska 20, 85-077, Bydgoszcz, Poland. skujawski@cm.umk.pl.
² Department of Exercise Physiology and Functional Anatomy, Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Świętojańska 20, 85-077, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
³ Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK.
⁴ Department of Experimental and Clinical Physiology, Laboratory of Centre for Preclinical Research, Warsaw Medical University, 1b Banacha Street, 02-097, Warsaw, Poland.
⁵ Institute of Microbiology and Virology, Riga Stradinš University, Riga, 1067, Latvia.
⁶ Population Health Sciences Institute, The Medical School, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK.

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the tolerability and effect of static stretching (SS) and whole body cryotherapy (WBC) upon fatigue, daytime sleepiness, cognitive functioning and objective and subjective autonomic nervous system functioning in those with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) compared to a control population.

Methods: Thirty-two CFS and eighteen healthy controls (HC) participated in 2 weeks of a SS + WBC programme. This programme was composed of five sessions per week, 10 sessions in total.

Results: A significant decrease in fatigue was noted in the CFS group in response to SS + WBC. Some domains of cognitive functioning (speed of processing visual information and set-shifting) also improved in response to SS + WBC in both CFS and HC groups. Our study has confirmed that WBC is well tolerated by those with CFS and leads to symptomatic improvements associated with changes in cardiovascular and autonomic function.

Conclusions: Given the preliminary data showing the beneficial effect of cryotherapy, its relative ease of application, good tolerability, and proven safety, therapy with cold exposure appears to be an approach worth attention. Further studies of cryotherapy as a potential treatment in CFS is important in the light of the lack of effective therapeutic options for these common and often disabling symptoms.

Keywords: Autonomic nervous system; Brain fog; Chronic fatigue syndrome; Cold therapy; Myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Autonomic Nervous System
Cryotherapy
Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic* / diagnosis
Heart Rate / physiology
Humans
Muscle Stretching Exercises*