Effects of hot bathing on blood coagulation and fibrinolysis were studied in 35 patients with various diseases by measuring pulse rate and blood pressure and performing peripheral blood and hemostatic examinations before and after a 10-minute hot bath at 40 to 42°C.
Pluse rate increased significantly during the hot bath (p<0.001) However, no changes were observed in the results of blood pressure and perpheral blood examinations.
APTT, PT, fibrinogen, factor II, V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, von Willebrand factor, prekallikrein, and antithrombin III were measured during coagulation examinations, but no significant changes were observed between those factors before and after hot bathing.
Although no significant changes were shown in plasminogen and antiplasmin during hot bathing, euglobulin lysis time (ELT) was significantly (p<0.001) reduced during the hot bath. It remains to be determined whether the reduction in ELT is due to the release of a tissue-type plasminogen activator from the vascular endothelial cells.
The reduction rate of ELT was studied in patients with each type of disease. The reduction rate of ELT in the patients with hypertension (HT) was larger than that in the patients without HT, and that in the patients with cerebral vascular accident (CVA) was also larger than that in the patients without CVA. However, the reduction rate of ELT in the patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) was smaller than that in the patients without DM. The patients with CVA, HT or DM are considered to have vascular damages. In the effect of hot bathing on fibrinolysis, however, there is a difference in reduction rate of ELT between patients with HT or CVA and those with DM.
This study indicates that pulse rate is increased during hot bathing and fibrinolysis is accelerated.