Effects of dry and mist saunas on circulatory and thermoregulatory functions in humans.docVIP

Vol.5, No.2, 267-273 (2013) Health /10.4236/health.2013.52036 Effects of dry and mist saunas on circulatory and thermoregulatory functions in humans Satoshi Iwase , Yuko Kawahara , Naoki Nishimura , Hiroki Takada , Mayumi Nagata , 1* 2 1 3 4 6 Yuki Niimi 5 , Chihiro Miwa 1 2 3 4 5 6 Department of Physiology, Aichi Medical University, Nagakute, Japan; Corresponding Author: s_iwase@ * Group of Home Systems Appliance RD, Department of Home Systems Appliance Sales, Toho Gas Co. Ltd., Nagoya, Japan Department of Human Artificial Intelligent Systems, Graduate School of Engineering, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan Plumbing Fixtures Technology Research Institute, Kitchen Plumbing Fixtures Company, LIXIL Corporation, Tokoname, Japan Department of Neurology, Tsushima Municipal Hospital, Tsushima, Japan Aichi Medical College for Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy, Kiyosu, Japan Received 7 December 2012; revised 6 January 2013; accepted 14 January 2013 ABSTRACT Heat Stress; Hemodynamic Change; Thermoregulatory Function To test the hypothesis that mist sauna is a safer way of bathing than dry sauna, we compared changes in circulatory and thermoregulatory functions during 10 min sauna bathing in mist sauna at 40?C with relative humidity of 100%, and in dry sauna by infrared ray at 70?C with relative humidity of 15%. Subjects were seven healthy young men aged 29 ± 6 yrs (mean ± SD). We measured blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperatures at chest, forearm, thigh, and leg, tympanic temperature (Tty) by thermistors, skin blood flow at forearm by laser Doppler flowmetry, and sweat rate by ventilated capsule method at 1 min intervals throughout the experiment. Total sweating and change of hematocrit were also measured for dehydration analys