SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE
The Pietro d’Abano Thermal Studies Centre, founded in 1981 at the initiative of the Hoteliers’ Associations of Abano Terme, Montegrotto Terme and Battaglia Terme, has as its main objective scientific research in the field of thermal medicine and biology, and the study and promotion of thermalism in all its forms, with therapeutic and scientific applications.
The Centre’s activities include the organisation of conferences, symposia, seminars, study meetings and scientific publications, with the aim of disseminating up-to-date knowledge and promoting a scientific approach to thermalism. To pursue these aims, the Centre collaborates with public and private bodies, universities and research institutes, coordinating joint actions also through scholarships and research awards, in order to optimise resources and outcomes. An Ethical-Scientific Committee supports the Scientific Director and the Head of Research and Development in identifying new research projects and initiatives.
Currently, the Centre’s scientific activity focuses on three main directions: the effectiveness of thermal treatments, the scientific and rational basis of therapy, and the quality of the thermal resource. These studies aim to make thermal treatment modern and evidence-based, contributing to the maintenance of quality of life across all age groups and identifying an alternative or complementary role to pharmacological therapy.
Thanks to its collaboration with universities and research bodies, the Pietro d’Abano Thermal Studies Centre has over the years guaranteed the scientific and therapeutic value of the treatments of the Euganean basin, producing more than 300 scientific and educational publications, thus building up a unique cultural heritage in Europe.
Browse the publications of the Pietro d'Abano Thermal Studies Centre
The Euganean Spas are the largest thermal resort in Europe, internationally renowned for the curative and preventive treatments based on hyperthermal waters and certified-quality muds. The effectiveness of the treatments, demonstrated by the Centre’s research, and the extraordinary nature of the area were already perceived by the ancient Veneti as a sign of special divine intercession.
In pre-Roman times, the numerous springs of hot and cold water, covered by acrid-smelling fumes and emerging naturally from the ground, impressed and fascinated the local populations, who dedicated the area to the cult of Aponus. It would, however, be the Romans who turned it into one of the main places of treatment and stay in the empire, the famous aquae patavinae.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE THERMAL WATER
| Water temperature | 77° C |
| pH | 7,1 |
| Electrical conductivity at 18 °C | 7042 µS |
| Fixed residue at 180 °C | 5,050 g/L |
| Fixed residue at 550 °C | 4,340 g/L |
| Sodium ion (Na+) | 1,239 g/L |
| Potassium ion (K+) | 0,088 g/L |
| Calcium ion (Ca2+) | 0,366 g/L |
| Magnesium ion (Mg2+) | 0,080 g/L |
| Ammonium ion (NH4+) | 0,0027 g/L |
| Iron (Fe) | <0,05 p.p.m. |
| Nitrite ion (NO2-) | Assente |
| Nitrate ion (NO3-) | Assente |
| Sulphate ion (SO4 2-) | 0,980 g/L |
| Chloride ion (Cl-) | 2,176 g/L |
| Hydrogen carbonate ion (HCO3-) | 0,169 g/L |
| Bromide ion (Br-) | 13,6 mg/L |
| Iodide ion (I-) | 0,82 mg/L |
| Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) | 1,67 mg/L |
| Silica (SiO2) | 0,051 g/L |
| Alkalinity (mL HCl 0.1 N/L) | 27,7 |
| Total hardness | 120 °F |
| Oxidisability | 7,40 mg/L |
| Organic substances | 0,3310 g/L |
| Cryoscopic delta | -0,23 °C |
| Osmotic pressure | 3,10 atm. |
THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITIES
Among the therapeutic activities linked to thermal waters, mud therapy plays a fundamental role. “Mature mud” is the final element of a process characterised by multiple factors, each of them indispensable to achieve the therapeutic quality of the compound and its use in medical practice.
The essential elements are:
- the liquid component: mineral water with specific characteristics of temperature and chemical composition;
- the mineral or telluric component, characterised by a specific chemical composition and grain size of the clay used: the mineral or telluric component of thermal mud is of natural origin, namely natural blue clay. The blue clay used in mud therapy is a hydrated aluminium silicate, salified with mono- or bivalent cations (Me).
- the biological characteristics of the ecosystem in which the maturation process takes place;
- The maturation process. During the “maturation” of the mud, which takes place by leaving clay and thermal water in contact for at least two months, true living communities develop: bacteria, protozoa and above all microalgae, including the extraordinary Diatoms which produce anti-inflammatory and antiviral substances capable of penetrating the skin and improving biological parameters in patients undergoing mud therapy.
The chemical composition of the clay includes, in percentage terms, the following chemical elements: 10% Magnesium (Mg), 15% Aluminium (Al), 45% Silicon (Si), 0.2% Sulphur (S), 0.3% Potassium (K), 22% Calcium (Ca), 0.3% Iron (Fe).
THERMAL WATER
The richness of our Thermae lies in the thermal water, which belongs to the category of deep underground waters and is chemically classified as hyperthermal salt-bromine-iodide water, with a fixed residue at 180 °C of 5–6 grams of salts per litre.
THE ORIGINS
From the Pre-Alps, rainwater penetrates the subsoil to a depth of about 3,000 m, becoming enriched with mineral salts and progressively heating up.
Over more than 25 years it travels about 100 km, before reaching the Euganean area where, due to the particular structural conditions of the soil, it undergoes a rapid rise to the thermal wells, reaching a temperature of approximately 87 °C.
THE THERMAL WATER
The chemical data describe a water of excellent thermal quality and high mineralisation, with broad-spectrum therapeutic properties, which makes this area the thermal resort par excellence in the world. Warm and pleasant, rich and precious, beneficial and therapeutic, the thermal water is used for the maturation of mud, for inhalation therapies, in thermal baths and in the swimming pools.
The temperature of the pool water is kept at 33 °C, and this constant temperature is maintained by an automatic system which also guarantees the hygiene and safety of the water itself.
At AbanoRitz the thermal gap between the over 80 °C at which the water leaves our well and the temperature used in the thermal bath (33 °C–38 °C), whether for leisure or for treatment, generates geothermal energy; the hotel is therefore heated using the thermal gradient of the thermal water. In this way AbanoRitz has been involved in Green Energy for 50 years!
THE MUD MATURATION PROCESS
Virgin mud, through a controlled maturation process lasting at least 60 days, acquires specific therapeutic properties as a result of ionic exchange with mineral water, enrichment in organic compounds, and changes in certain chemical-physical parameters compared to virgin mud.
The steady flow of thermal water at a temperature of 35/40°C promotes the development of a surface biofilm of biological origin, consisting mainly of cyanobacteria, many of which are native to the area.
Among the numerous strains of thermophilic cyanobacteria identified in thermal muds, three were isolated for the first time in the Euganean Thermal Basin (ETS-03, ETS-05, and ETS-08) and are now available to researchers worldwide.
The cyanobacteria endemic to the Euganean territory produce substances known as active compounds, which the Study Center, in collaboration with other research institutions, has shown to have anti-inflammatory efficacy comparable to that of reference drugs, but without side effects. The intellectual property of these discoveries has been protected by patents.
