Most people's contact with cryotherapy is having a wart or mole removed with liquid nitrogen by their local GP. It is treatment using very low temperature and is used in the treatment of many forms of cancer where the extremely low temperatures kill cells. Now in some countries rowers are using this process to ward off colds and flu. Cryotherapy will be one of the subjects discussed at the FISA medical seminar after this year's World Championships in Milan. The Polish Rowing team doctor, Jola Chwalbinska will be giving details of the result of the therapy carried out on the Polish rowing team.The treatment involves going into a cold room of minus 160 degrees centigrade for three minutes twice a day. This process lasts for two weeks at the end of which the athlete's immune system has been boosted to give better protection against illness.Obviously the Poles believe this works and I have anecdotal evidence to support this. Many years ago, I rowed with a guy whose father was in the navy during the war. He was a great storyteller and used to tell us tales of his war exploits. One such tale concerned his time on a destroyer escorting merchant ship to Russia via the Barents Sea. Entering the Arctic Circle in winter was unbelievably cold and the sailors never took their clothes off or washed and shaved while they were at sea. It was so bad that the first thing many of the crew did when they got back to port was to smash a shop window and just stand there until the police arrived. They would then start a fight with the police so that they ended up in jail to avoid sailing when the ship left port. I suppose it didn't help that apart from the cold the German U boats were firing torpedoes at them but of course the going to jail strategy didn't work. Just before sailing the captain would round up his crew from jail and march them on board in handcuffs.The thing was that he never felt the cold and I can never remember him being ill. He worked in the docks and rode a motorbike, his only concession to winter was an old gabardine mac if it rained really hard, but most of the time he would just be in his shirt sleeves. In Scandinavian countries there is a practice of having an outside sauna and in the winter they alternate high temperatures from the sauna and rolling about naked in the snow. Also in some of the top public schools, ice cold baths or swims were considered to be most efficacious. If there are so many benefits to be gained from being cold, why do we go to such great lengths to make sure we are always warm?It was the Americans who first introduced climate control better known as air conditioning. This works by having a controlled quantity of air that is recycled. Unfortunately it is not only the air that is recycled but all the bugs as well. Most Brits do not have air conditioning in their homes and tend to come into contact with it when on holiday. Many of these become ill when they return from holiday due to bugs picked up while away. The worst case of this was the outbreak of legionnaire disease. Many offices have air conditioning and windows that don't open and there is now recognition of Sick Buildings where there is a disproportionate number of lost days due to employees who are off sick. I'll bet there is a direct correlation between central heating and days lost through colds because central heating is bloody unhealthy. I am conducting an experiment by sleeping with my bedroom window wide open. This has got to be healthier, apart from the diesel fumes, and the lack of sleep because I wake up at 4'30 when those poxy birds start screeching. At the moment it is difficult to make a judgment as I have only been doing it since Saturday but so far I haven't caught a cold.