Rehabilitation for patients with respiratory disease. Spa efficacy in relation to pathophysiological characteristics of bronchial asthma.

The number of patients with respiratory disease in the elderly has been increasing in recent years. Pathophysiological characteristic of respiratory diseases in older patients is clearly different from that in younger patients. In this study, rehabilitation for patients with respiratory disease, particularly bronchial asthma, in the elderly was discussed in relation to pathophysiology of asthma. Complex spa therapy has two kinds of actions, direct and indirect actions. Subjective and objective symptoms of patients with asthma are improved by spa therapy for 1-2 months, accompanied with improvement of ventilatory function, and decrease in bronchial hyperresponsiveness and respiratory resistance. In addition to these direct action of spa therapy, increase in strength of respiratory muscle, stability of autonomic nerve syetem, psychical relaxation, and inprovement of suppressed function of adrenocortical glands are observed as indirect action of spa therapy. Regarding clinical asthma type classified by pathophysiological changes of the airways, spa therapy was more effective in patients with hypersecretion and bronchiolar obstruction. These results suggest that complex spa therapy is available as rehabilitation and/or treatment for patients with respiratory disease.