The Untapped Potential of Cold Water Therapy
In 2024, Setor K. Kunutsor, Andrea Lehoczki, Jari A. Laukkanen and colleagues published a narrative + observational/interventional review in Geroscience titled “The untapped potential of cold water therapy as part of a lifestyle intervention for promoting healthy aging.” PubMed. They pulled together human interventional and cohort studies (and in some cases animal or mechanistic work) up to July 2024 to see what the evidence suggests about deliberate cold water exposure — from cold showers and immersions, to winter swimming, etc.
Key takeaways
Here’s what stood out — what the evidence does say, and where it’s still to be investigated.