Disease
Deliberate cold exposure has been shown to improve glucose sensitivity due to the thermogenesis mechanism for activation of brown fat. Through this mechanism, it may increase energy expenditure, lower blood glucose levels, consume triglycerides, result in weight loss, stimulate the thyroid, and treat type 2 diabetes.
Where pharmaceuticals seem to bring patients to a dead end, there has been several cases of cold therapy relieving the symptoms of chronic pain, including an extreme athlete with neuralgia, an elderly woman suffering from rheumatoid, and a customer with ongoing chronic back pain with three surgeries under his belt. Although all of these stories are fundamentally different, they are similar in the relief they have found in the cold.
Despite no mention of cold therapy with the National MS Society, there has been an abundance of scientific evidence on the use of cold therapy as treatment for MS. While the precise response is not yet fully understood, it appears to be systemic, and cold exposure has been found to help MS patients manage symptoms of fatigue, muscle weakness, cognitive dysfunction, and loss of visual acuity.
After adopting a regular practice of cold plunge therapy, both women and men have documented increases in total testosterone. Through the mechanism of steroidogenesis, performed by mitochondria, there is the conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone, the steroidal precursor necessary to synthesize testosterone. This has shown significant boosts of testosterone over time.