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.

Both in the West and the East, heat has been used to appease aches and pains from time-honored experiences, and scientific evidences of thermotherapy has been accumulated and systematized. Thermotherapy is one of the indispensable managements of physical therapy, which consists of the main prop for rehabilitation program, and hydrotherapy also has an important position in the rehabilitation for patients with chronic ailments.
Temperature, buoyancy, hydropressure, chemical compositions and so on of the mineral waters act on the sick body as compound stimuli so that the disturbed functions of patients with chronic disorders are regulated. Balneotherapy is the specific treatment process at spa designed to help physically and functionally handicapped individuals make maximal use of residual capacities.
The author stated in this symposium the therapeutic effects centered mainly in physical side of hot spring bathing in view of experimental results and the clinical experiences at Misasa Spa (radio-active hot springs).
In conclusion, the author has thought that balneotherapy is the one to be indicated for rehabilitation program.