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Population study: followed a group

In 13 Antarctic expedition members, Wim Hof training went with lower depression scores

Petraskova Touskova and colleagues · The Journal of international medical research · 2022

Original title: A novel Wim Hof psychophysiological training program to reduce stress responses during an Antarctic expedition.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Points to benefit

Depression scores fell with the training. Cortisol fell a little, but the drop was not clear.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Population study: followed a group
Who or what was studied
13 people · 13 healthy people on an Antarctic expedition (6 trained, 7 not)
What was tested
8 weeks of Wim Hof training (breathing, cold exposure and meditation) vs no training
What it measured
Several kinds of outcomes
How long
8 weeks
Who has a stake
No stake declared
No competing interests declared.
Journal
The Journal of international medical research, 2022
Source
PubMed record 35437052. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • –Shows a link, not a cause: people chose their own habits, and other differences between them may explain the result.
  • ✓Followed people over time, so habits were recorded before the outcome happened.
  • •13 people.
  • •Measured several kinds of outcomes.
  • ✓No competing interests declared.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

Each dot is one on-topic paper on this question. Steps near the top answer the question more directly.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: muscle recovery and mood

    8

    1 benefit, 1 mixed, 5 no difference, 1 harm

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    8

    2 benefit, 1 mixed, 4 no difference, 1 harm

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    3

    1 benefit, 2 no difference

  4. Population studies

    3

    2 benefit, 1 mixed

    ↑ This study is the ringed dot

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does cold plunging help recovery and mood?”

Eases soreness a little; mood unproven.

Confidence: low. Based on 30 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Of the other 2 papers on the same step: 1 benefit, 1 mixed. This one found benefit.

  • Counted on the ladder, but not quoted in the page’s main findings.

Other papers on the same step

See all 30 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The two reads differed. The reviewer checked the abstract and kept the first read. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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