Report with great scientific content. Experts say that if people practice the Wim Hof Method (WHM), they may face life-threatening consequences. Hyperventilation can cause people to pass out underwater. Before WHM gained popularity, decades of reports described people drowning after hyperventilating and then holding their breath underwater. Hyperventilation and holding your breath decrease the carbon dioxide in the blood and the pressure that the gas would normally exert on the blood vessels. This delays the brain's signal to surface and breathe. This is because the signal to breathe is normally activated when carbon dioxide levels increase in the blood.
"If you remove it, it's like you're playing with your life," said Dr. Frank Pernett, a pulmonary medicine physician and doctoral candidate at Mid Sweden University.
Hyperventilation alone can cause people to pass out, as can after hyperventilation with deep breathing, Pernett said. You can also pass out simply from holding your breath. In all of these scenarios, the loss of blood-borne carbon dioxide causes blood vessels to narrow and prevents enough blood from reaching the brain, causing unconsciousness.
This is why combining any form of deep breathing exercise or long breath holding with water is a bad idea. Pernett, a free diver, said three of his friends, all trained diving instructors, died while training alone in pools. "If you're underwater and you pass out and there's no one there to help you, you'll die," he said. That response makes jumping into cold water, as Hof and his followers do in some videos, particularly dangerous because a single breath underwater can be enough to cause someone to drown, said Mike Tipton, professor of human and applied physiology. at the University of Portsmouth. in the United Kingdom.
A lesser known facet of the Wim Hof Method is its impact on the nervous system. Rapid breathing or hyperventilation stimulates our "fight or flight" response. This high is exhilarating, feeling both energetic and calming, a duality of states. However, the blood is flooded with adrenaline, a powerful vasoconstrictor that limits blood flow to vital areas, including the brain.
Tipton also explained that when your face is submerged underwater, your body tries to slow your heart rate, but the cold shock response speeds it up. Activating both responses simultaneously mixes the signals sent to the heart in what is called autonomic conflict, which can cause arrhythmias or irregular heartbeats. NOAA notes that these arrhythmias, as well as spikes in heart rate and blood pressure related to the cold shock response, may pose a risk of heart failure and stroke in people vulnerable to these conditions.
A systematic review of scientific studies on Wim Hof's cold water therapy method found that the quality of the research was inadequate to support most efficacy claims without additional research.
"As the review reveals, the science is too weak/biased to conclude what the Wim Hof method achieves," said cold-water survival expert Mike Tipton, professor of human and applied physiology at the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom. United, in an email. One study reported that daily performance of the WHM did not exert positive effects on cardiovascular and psychological parameters.
Report with great scientific content. Experts say that if people practice the Wim Hof Method (WHM), they may face life-threatening consequences. Hyperventilation can cause people to pass out underwater. Before WHM gained popularity, decades of reports described people drowning after hyperventilating and then holding their breath underwater. Hyperventilation and holding your breath decrease the carbon dioxide in the blood and the pressure that the gas would normally exert on the blood vessels. This delays the brain's signal to surface and breathe. This is because the signal to breathe is normally activated when carbon dioxide levels increase in the blood.
"If you remove it, it's like you're playing with your life," said Dr. Frank Pernett, a pulmonary medicine physician and doctoral candidate at Mid Sweden University.
Hyperventilation alone can cause people to pass out, as can after hyperventilation with deep breathing, Pernett said. You can also pass out simply from holding your breath. In all of these scenarios, the loss of blood-borne carbon dioxide causes blood vessels to narrow and prevents enough blood from reaching the brain, causing unconsciousness.
This is why combining any form of deep breathing exercise or long breath holding with water is a bad idea. Pernett, a free diver, said three of his friends, all trained diving instructors, died while training alone in pools. "If you're underwater and you pass out and there's no one there to help you, you'll die," he said. That response makes jumping into cold water, as Hof and his followers do in some videos, particularly dangerous because a single breath underwater can be enough to cause someone to drown, said Mike Tipton, professor of human and applied physiology. at the University of Portsmouth. in the United Kingdom.
A lesser known facet of the Wim Hof Method is its impact on the nervous system. Rapid breathing or hyperventilation stimulates our "fight or flight" response. This high is exhilarating, feeling both energetic and calming, a duality of states. However, the blood is flooded with adrenaline, a powerful vasoconstrictor that limits blood flow to vital areas, including the brain.
Tipton also explained that when your face is submerged underwater, your body tries to slow your heart rate, but the cold shock response speeds it up. Activating both responses simultaneously mixes the signals sent to the heart in what is called autonomic conflict, which can cause arrhythmias or irregular heartbeats. NOAA notes that these arrhythmias, as well as spikes in heart rate and blood pressure related to the cold shock response, may pose a risk of heart failure and stroke in people vulnerable to these conditions.
A systematic review of scientific studies on Wim Hof's cold water therapy method found that the quality of the research was inadequate to support most efficacy claims without additional research.
"As the review reveals, the science is too weak/biased to conclude what the Wim Hof method achieves," said cold-water survival expert Mike Tipton, professor of human and applied physiology at the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom. United, in an email. One study reported that daily performance of the WHM did not exert positive effects on cardiovascular and psychological parameters.
https://www.livescience.com/health/gambling-with-your-life-experts-weigh-in-on-dangers-of-the-wim-hof-method (2024).--
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/13/health/wim-hof-weak-science-wellness/index.html (2024).--
https://kitarowaga.com/articles/the-hidden-dangers-of-the-wim-hof-method (2024).-
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-44902-0 (2023).--