Research background

• Traditional treatment – oil of eucalyptus or Friar’s Balsam in hot water – inhale the vapours.
• There are several formal scientific ‘peer reviewed’ research studies that showed that it was the hot saturated air that was effective.
• The first study that I read said that:
• Critical temperature range was 43 – 47ºC.
• Inhalation through the nose reduced the severity of the symptoms and shortened the duration of the infection.
• I’ve subsequently read other studies that claim differing levels of effectiveness. These differences are likely to be due to the experimental method used.
• Newer research shows that the cold virus initially infects the back of the nose.
• It remains there, multiplying, until it then moves into the rest of the body.
• The scientific methods in earlier studies that I have read have virtually precluded effective treatment in this initial phase.
• It is in this phase that the cold virus vulnerable to treatment.