The real RT Cave; it's the new cure all

I often type in Respiratory Therapy Cave when I'm looking to get to this blog. One day I noticed that there were other RT caves. I looked into it and found something interesting.

It was observed in the 18th century that people who worked in salt mines in Europe did not get respiratory illnesses. Soon, people with respiratory illnesses would travel hundreds of miles to sleep in one of these caves.

It was later determined that breathing the salt aerosols prevented respiratory illness, and worked as palliative therapy to improve respiratory illnesses such as asthma, COPD, pneumonia, allergies, CF, rhinitis, etc. One sight claimed that breathing in salt aerosols is a natural cure for many of the diseases that ail us, including cardiac, skin rashes, etc.

Now, it's too difficult and too costly for people to travel to one of the natural salt caves, so fake salt caves were invented to give people easier access to them.

Not only that, some companies decided that was still too inconvenient, and invented a machine that allowed people to use salt therapy right in their homes via salt lamps. You have them running all day in your home and, wallah, you are receiving continuous salt aerosol therapy.

One company invented a salt pipe, which is a "handy device of self-care based on age-old Salt Therapy. It is a salt inhaler... for providing convenient way to improve and maintain your breathing at your home. (It) provides an affordable and a convenient way to obtain the advantages of salt crystal therapy.

I have might doubts as to the verity of this, considering all the sights I found about it were companies seeking to make a profit. Not only that, I'm sure if it were true, I'm sure we'd be using those salt pipes right here in the hospital.

When doctors get wind of this, Halotherapy might be the wave of the RT future. This therapy, called Halotherapy, is known to be safe and effective. It is a "cure all" just like Ventolin. Once doctors catch on to this we'll be pulling out the pipe after we put the neb in its bag.

It looks like this is the cure for respiratory illnesses we've been looking for. But, why don't we learn about this in respiratory school? Why don't we learn about it from the NBRC, or read about it in respiratory journals? Why do we not learn about this when it would benefit so many people?
The answer is simple: it would put us out of a job.

It's a conspiracy.

Update 3-2-2011

Salt therapy is now catching on in the U.S. For more information click here.