title: Spa therapy improves ventilatory function in the small airways of patients with steroid-dependent intractable asthma (SDIA).
abstract: The improvement of ventilatory function by spa therapy was examined in 37 patients with steroid-dependent intractable asthma (SDIA) in relation to clinical asthma types. All subjects had been on long-term corticosteroid therapy before spa therapy. Spa therapy was found to improve the values of ventilatory parameters. The percent improvement in all subjects was +4.1% in %FVC, +8.9% in FEV1.0%, +9.8% in %PEFR, +22.0% in %MMF, +19.7% in %V50 and +28.2% in %V25, respectively. Relating to clinical asthma types, moderate improvement in %MMF and %V25 from 16.7% to 16.9% was observed in type Ia cases, and marked increase in %MMF, %V50 and %V25 was observed from 42.2% to 43.2% in type Ib cases. However, no significant increase was found in these parameters of types Ia or Ib after spa therapy. In patients with type II, a significant increase was shown in %V50 (p less than 0.05) and %V25 (p less than 0.01) after spa therapy. The results show that spa therapy improves the condition of small airways disorder in patients with SDIA.
authors.affiliation: Division of Medicine, Misasa Medical Branch, Okayama University Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanizaki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kitani
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okazaki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mifune
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mitsunobu
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ochi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kimura
mesh_terms: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006875:Hydrotherapy; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones