[Empirical treatment of decompression sickness in Greek sponge divers]

Reports and evidence of the empirical methods of treating decompression sickness long used by Greek sponge divers have been collected. Divers were questioned by a team from Chieti University's School of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine during a visit to the island of Kalymnos. There are interesting analogies between modern therapy and ancient empirical methods. The modern methods were devised in response to the enormous incidence of decompression sickness during the fishing season in the Southern Mediterranean. It may well be that the experience of old sponge divers may offer some helpful suggestions for modern therapy of decompression sickness.