著者

宮園 真美

出版者

九州大学

巻号頁・発行日

2011

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Physiological and psychological reactions during taking a sauna were investigated in healthy young and elderly subjects to collect basic information aiming at the application of saunas in nursing. Based on the information, we applied foot saunas for inpatients and evaluated their sleep before and after the use of the foot sauna for 3 consecutive days. In Chapter 1, the background, objective, and structure of this report were described. We set the objective of this study as the investigation of the possibility of applying the thermal effect of saunas for nursing and the collection of basic information. In Chapter 2, Physiological and psychological reactions to saunas were investigated in healthy young subjects. A dome sauna applied below the neck (dome sauna) was adopted because a recumbent position is possible. At the middle-level temperature condition (65-85℃), the deep body temperature rose by about 0.8C. An increase in the systolic blood pressure and heart rate, and peripheral vascular dilatation and reduced peripheral vascular resistance lowered the diastolic blood pressure. On body weight measurement, 810-840 g of sweat was perspired. About 1.3% per body weight of dehydration was observed after sauna. In Chapter 3, the experiment was performed in healthy elderly subjects under the same conditions. An about 0.8C rise in the deep body temperature was observed. The diastolic blood pressure decreased, but the systolic blood pressure did not rise because of a reduced circulatory function in the elderly. On body weight measurement, 390-460 g of sweat was perspired. The subjective mood, inventory JUMACL, was significantly improved after the sauna, showing that the subjects were relaxed after the sauna. In Chapter 4, an experiment using a foot sauna was performed involving inpatients with heart failure. Focusing on insomnia, we investigated changes in their sleep condition after the use of the foot sauna. Physiological reactions were measured on the first day of 3-day sauna treatment. A maximum 0.4℃ elevation of the body temperature was observed during the foot sauna. No changes were noted in the heart rate or blood pressure. These findings revealed that the deep body temperature can be elevated at a small cardiac load even in heart failure patients. The sleep condition was evaluated employing the OSA and St. Mary’s Hospital sleep inventories and body movement measured using an actigraph. A significant change was noted in ‘dreaming’ in the OSA sleep inventory. Since the sleep score was generally improved, we are planning to continue sauna use as a part of nursing actively utilizing the thermal effect involving an increased number of patients.