Waon therapy improves quality of life as well as cardiac function and exercise capacity in patients with chronic heart failure
Sobajima M, Nozawa T, Fukui Y, Ihori H, Ohori T, Fujii N, Inoue H
International heart journal · 37 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Controlled clinical trial (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
Publication
- Published
- 2015-01-01 · Int Heart J · vol. 56 · issue 2 · pp. 203–208
- Publisher
- Japanese Heart Journal Assoc
- Cited
- 46 citations · more than 89% of similar papers · 2.2× the field average
- References
- 36 works
- Access
- Free to read
- Research areas
- Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control · Cardiovascular and exercise physiology · Cardiac Health and Mental Health
- Keywords
- Medicine, Ejection fraction, Cardiac function curve, Heart failure, Natriuretic peptide, Cardiology, Internal medicine, Brachial artery, Quality of life (healthcare), Cardiac output, Hemodynamics, Blood pressure
- MeSH
- endothelium, vascular, humans, chronic disease, natriuretic peptide, brain, stroke volume, steam bath, vasodilation, exercise tolerance, quality of life, aged, aged, 80 and over, middle aged, female, male, heart failure
7 authors
From JP
- Mitsuo SobajimaUniversity of Toyama
- Takashi NozawaUniversity of Toyama
- Yasutaka FukuiUniversity of Toyama
- Hiroyuki IhoriUniversity of Toyama
- Takashi OhoriUniversity of Toyama
- Nozomu FujiiUniversity of Toyama
Abstract
Waon therapy (WT), which in Japanese means soothing warmth, is a repeated sauna therapy that improves cardiac and vascular endothelial function in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). We investigated whether WT could improve the quality of life (QOL) of CHF patients in addition to improving cardiac function and exercise capacity.A total of 49 CHF patients (69 ± 14 years old) were treated with a 60°C far infrared-ray dry sauna bath for 15 minutes and then kept in a bed covered with blankets for 30 minutes once a day for 3 weeks. At baseline and 3 weeks after starting WT, cardiac function, 6-minute walk distance (6MWD), flow mediated dilation (FMD) of the brachial artery, and SF36-QOL scores were determined.WT significantly improved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), 6MWD, and FMD (3.6 ± 2.3 to 5.1 ± 2.8%, P < 0.01). Moreover, WT significantly improved not only the physical (PC) but also mental component (MC) of the QOL scores. WT-induced improvement of PC was negatively correlated with changes in BNP (r = -0.327, P < 0.05), but MC improvement was not related directly to changes in BNP, LVEF, or 6MWD. WT-induced changes in MC were not parallel to PC improvement.WT improved QOL as well as cardiac function and exercise capacity in patients with CHF. Mental QOL improved independently of WT-induced improvement of cardiac function and exercise capacity.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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