Cure for asthma found in Pakistani salt mine?

A centuries-old salt mine in Pakistan is offering experimental asthma therapy, attracting patients from all over the world. Khewra, billed as the world's second largest salt mine, has for centuries extracted the crucial mineral for export and has become a tourist attraction complete with a salt mosque and an electric train. Now, the mine is cashing in on salt therapy, already a draw in the salt mines of eastern Europe and a synthetic clinic in Britain. A Pakistani woman with her child beside a mosque built of salt bricks inside the Khewra salt mine in Khewra, some 160 kms southeast of Islamabad. Clinics claim that asthma patients and sufferers of other respiratory illnesses benefit from inhaling antibacterial salt particles in a sterile environment, helping loosen mucus and clear the lung passages.  A Pakistani miner drills a salt wall to place explosives inside the Khewra salt mine in Khewra. Although there have been few clinical studies, salt caves are seen by some as a therapeutic alternative to drugs and there are natural and synthetic salt caves springing up all over the world Pakistani miners collect stones after they were blown from a mine face inside the Khewra salt mine in Khewra. "We don't use any medicine, because the asthmatic allergy patients recover through the air, so we provide them an environment in which their breathing can improve," said Akhlaq Bukhari, head doctor at the Khewra clinic Pakistani workers grind salt stones in a workshop outside the Khewra salt mine in Khewra. While other clinics offer treatment for bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, and even ear infections, Shah says the Khewra clinic only treats patients whose asthma is triggered by allergies A Pakistani miner carries salt stones to load a truck inside the Khewra salt mine in Khewra. The mine, located 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Pakistan's capital Islamabad, was discovered in 320 BC by Alexander's troops and first developed by British colonial rulers in 1872, mine officials say Pakistani Naeem Shamsher, a civil engineer from Canada and an asthma sufferer, rests at the Khewra salt mine in Khewra. Located deep underground in the mine, the asthma clinic resembles an upmarket guesthouse, with 12 beds covered in white sheets and red blankets in six independent cabins separated with salt bricks and softly lit by lamps. A Pakistani worker collects salt stones to be loaded onto a truck outside the Khewra salt mine in Khewra. The asthma clinic has a reception area decorated with salt lamps and a lounge complete with a fountain, sofas and a television set Pakistani tourists walk in the visitors area of the Khewra salt mine in Khewra. The walls and roof of the clinic are made from pure salt and a fan helps maintain the temperature and humidity, creating the so-called "micro-climate" that offers patients relief. Pakistani tourists pose for photos in the visitors area of the Khewra salt mine in Khewra. A 10-day course at the Khewra Mines salt therapy centre costs 5,300 rupees ($62), with 11 hours a day spent in the caves while nights are spent in a nearby hospital Pakistani miners work inside the Khewra salt mine in Khewra. Khaled Sajjad Khokhar, managing director of the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation, a government body which owns the mine, says they will assess the success of the Khewra clinic before approving its expansion to 100 beds. A Pakistani miner walks in a tunnel inside the Khewra salt mine in Khewra, some 160 kms southeast of Islamabad. Since opening in 2007, the clinic has treated about 500 patients. A Pakistani miner smokes while taking a short break inside the Khewra salt mine in Khewra, some 160 kms southeast of Islamabad. Shah claims that 60 percent of patients experience some relief from their symptoms and says patients have come from as far as Britain and Saudi Arabia. http://bit.ly/9SfHbE