We did not find any description of whether the miners, 200 of them, volunteered for the 5-year scientific observation, having no idea how well they would do.
After a thorough medical examination, 400 healthy subjects were selected for the test. Based on experience, the basic premise was that 5 years of hard physical work is very taxing for the body, so miners develop more locomotor complaints after so many years, the number of partial disabilities increases and the rate of illnesses is higher.
It is a well-known fact that musculoskeletal diseases are very common among people living unhealthy and/or sedentary lifestyles, as well as people who perform heavy physical work. In this regard, numerous investigations were carried out both at home and abroad in the 1960s and 1970s.
What did they want to prove?
At the same time, the doctors in Hévíz believed that balneotherapy (performed with water) and physiotherapeutic (performed with movement) cures in Hévíz are useful in preventing such diseases. Preventive treatment can reduce the risk of developing locomotor diseases, workers will spend less time in sick bays, and the cost of their medical treatments will be lower.
In 1976, 400 miners were found to be healthy. 200 of them were included in the control group, those who had not been on a medical holiday in Hévíz for 5 years, had not received any health-preserving treatment anywhere. However, the other 200 lucky miners spent 3 weeks in the spa town every year, at the cost of their vacation, where they swam in the warm water of Lake Hévíz, received massage and mud treatments, took part in physical therapy, and received additional treatments.
The preventive cures in Hévíz were not only useful and enjoyable for the 200 miners, but the research also ended with very positive results.
After 5 years, in 1981, at the then Hévíz State Spa Hospital, it was established that among the 200 miners in the "untreated" control group, significantly more people became disabled and spent significantly more time in the infirmary than those who received preventive treatment. The health status of the regularly treated group clearly remains much better despite the same and equally demanding hard physical work as the control group.
But this was not enough proof of the effectiveness of typical Hévíz medicinal water cures!
In 1988, another study was conducted at the Hévíz State Spa Hospital, now involving 227 volunteers.
In the 1980s, they tried to convince employers why it was worth sending their employees on medical leave. In the case of the 227 people, they were interested in the number of days spent in the patient population. However, the extent of this can mean a significant loss of manpower/a decrease in productivity for a company.
They selected 227 patients who were treated with the same locomotor complaint, but 107 of them received medication only, while 120 were treated with a complex spa treatment repeated every year.
An astonishing result was achieved in the examined period!
The 120 patients who received regular spa treatments spent a total of 885 days in the hospital. In contrast, the 107 members of the control group spent 5,430 days! That's six times the number! This is such a significant difference that it had to be recognized that spa treatments regenerate people much more effectively.
Today, it is considered natural that preventive and recreational complex cures and health programs are important not only for those who perform heavy physical work.
In Europe, more and more people are participating in so-called manager cures, which serve to regenerate the physical and mental performance of managers who are overburdened with mental work. These are periods of two to three weeks, during which the participants run a lot, swim, eat healthy, and relax, which in many cases includes a digital detox (a period without smart devices).
Don't have time for such a long vacation? Don't be discouraged! Try an intensive health program in Hévíz and you have already taken the first step towards a fitter Me.
Take part in the human experiment yourself!
BodyReboot in Hévíz! Because your body needs Hévíz!
source: Hungarian Spa Almanac: István Fluck, Istvánné Bikfalvi, László Fejér: A gyógyító víz, 2021.
pictures: (1) Zander Institute Hévíz - heviz.hu, (2) Tatabánya miners 1973 - Fortepan, (3) Weight bath from the last century - heviz.hu, (4) Hévíz State Spa Hospital (1970) - heviz.hu, (4) ) bathing in the Hévíz lake - heviz.hu
