ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between frequency of bathing in a spa and at home and the characteristics of the body, blood, and lifestyle of white-collar and blue-collar male employees.<br>To recruit subjects, two baseline data for randomized controlled trials in two places in Shimane Prefecture and in Nagano Prefecture were used. In the two-month period between August and September 2006, 43 of 311 white-collar male employees aged between 30 and 57 years in the Unnan municipal office volunteered to participate in this study. Similarly, 44 blue-collar workers in Nagano Prefecture volunteered to be involved in this study as a result of an appeal for volunteers in local newspapers and public information journals published by large local enterprises from September through November 2006. A total of 87 men were subjects of this study. Items evaluated in this study with respect to physique included height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, and percent of body fat. With respect to strength, they were grip strength, abdominal strength, back strength, and anteflexion. With respect to characteristics of the blood, they were serum glucose, hemoglobin A1c, fructosamine, lactic acid, total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, free fatty acid, GOT, GPT, γ-GTP, cholinesterase, natural killer cell activity, T cell, B cell, CD4+, CD8+, CD4/8 and uric acid. With respect to mood, Profile of Mood States was evaluated. With respect to lifestyle, the frequency of monthly bathing in a spa and at home was evaluated.<br>No significant correlation was revealed between frequency of monthly spa bathing and the health indices in the white and blue-collar male workers. The items that were significantly correlated (p<0.05) with frequency of monthly bathing at home were GOT (positive), CD8+ (positive), and mental stress (negative).<br>In this study, frequency of monthly spa bathing was found to have no significant correlation with the health indices.
ABSTRACT
Spa bathing at night has been thought to improve sleeping conditions and symptoms of dementia such as restlessness, wandering, and aggression in patients in our nursing home with special needs for the aged. The present study investigated patient activity using a lifestyle measurement device (Kenz Lifecorder) to examine the effects of night bathing on senile dementia by more objective methods. Nine patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type staying in health facility for the elderly were studied. These patients' symptoms of dementia were already incurable but daily living activities somewhat remained. The patients were divided into a night bathing group (n=5) and daytime bathing group (n=4) to study patient activity using a Kenz Lifecorder for 14 weeks, that is one week before the start of bathing, 12 weeks with bathing, and 1 week after bathing. The night bathing group had a higher rate of activity than the daytime bathing group. When comparing the daytime of night bathing patients with the daytime bathing individually, the former displayed increased activity in the daytime. As a group, the night bathing group was found to show a significant increase in the amount of daytime activity. However, the statistical significance was reached after Weeks 9-10, so 2-3 months were required to change lifestyle rhythms. The authors hope that night bathing or night bathing assistance will be received favorably by the long-term care and health care insurance systems.