Twenty-nine patients with bronchial asthma received spa therapy at Okayama University Medical School, Misasa Branch Hospital. Twenty out of 29 cases were steroid-dependent intractable asthma.
Spa therapy was markedly effective in 8 cases (27.6%), moderately effective in 14 cases (48.3%), slightly effective in 5 cases (17.2%) and not effective in 2 cases out of 29 cases.
Spa therapy was more effective in the cases with age over 40 years than in the cases under 40 years. Non-atopic type asthma was more successfully treated with spa therapy compared to atopic type asthma. Regarding pathophysiological classification, spa therapy was greatly effective in the cases with bronchiolar obstruction and with hypersecretion.
