A study carried out on 460 patients, and entitled Thermarthrosis, was published in the British journal Annals of rheumatic diseases. It demonstrates the reduction of pain via the thermal treatment.
This improvement would be visible up to nine months after this cure. The study was funded by the French Association for Thermal Research (Afreth). It was taken to three spas by rheumatologists: doctors Romain Forestier, Hugues Desfour and Jean Max Tessier.
Osteoarthritis is the main indication for spa treatment: about one out of two spa visitors, or 250,000 patients each year.
Gonarthrosis, osteoarthritis of the knee, is the leading cause of chronic functional disability in developed countries, according to this press release. It would affect between 20 to 30% of people aged 60 to 70 and 40% to 50% of people over 80.
