Distant effects of spa therapy on steroid-dependent intractable asthma

The immediate effects (IEs) and distant effects (DEs) of spa therapy were observed in 67 patients with steroid- dependent intractable asthma (SDIA). (1) The IEs of spa therapy evaluated one week after spa therapy were considerably high, and the efficacy rate was 61.5% in type Ⅰa, 82.7% in type Ⅰb, and 83.4% in type Ⅱ asthmatics. (2) The DEs of spa therapy on SDIA were also observed. The efficacy rate was 50.2% in type Ⅰa, 54.3% in type Ⅰb and 63.7% in type Ⅱ asthmatics. (3) The DEs　of spa therapy were different between cases with and without maintenance therapy (MT).　The efficacy rate of DEs was generally high (72.8～91.7%) in cases with MT, and low (16.7～40.0%) in cases without MT. These results show that MT is very important to keep the IEs of spa therapy high for a long time.

67例のステロイド依存性重症難治性喘息を対象に，温泉療法を行い，その即時的効果（1週間後）および遠隔効果（1年後），さらには，温泉療法後の継続療法の影響などについて検討を加えた。1．温泉療法1週間後の即時的効果は比較的高く，その有効率は，Ⅰa．気管支攣縮型で61.5％，Ⅰb．気管支攣縮＋過分泌型で82.7％，Ⅱ．細気管支閉塞型で83.4％であった。2．温泉療法の遠隔効果では，その有効率は，Ⅰa型で50.2％，Ⅰb型で54.1％，Ⅱ型で63.7％であった。3．温泉療法の遠隔効果は，その後の継続療法の有無によりかなり異なった結果であった。すなわち，継続療法を行った症例の有効率は，72.8～91.7％と高く，一方，継続療法を行わなかった症例の有効率は，16.7～40.0％の間にあった。これらの結果から，温泉療法の即時的効果を保つためには，その後の継続療法が極めて重要であることが示唆された。