Acute effects of warm footbath on arterial stiffness in healthy young and older women

Abstract

Acute systemic thermal therapy can improve arterial stiffness in both animals and humans. We examined and compared the effects of acute local thermal therapy (footbath) on an indicator of human arterial stiffness, cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), in 16 healthy young (29.4 ± 0.4 years) and 16 older (59.8 ± 1.7 years) women. Measurements were made at baseline (BL) and at 0 and 30 min after footbath in footbath trial, and at corresponding time points without footbath in control trial. In the footbath trial, subjects immersed their lower legs and feet in water for 30 min, with water temperature ranging from 41 to 43°C. The results showed that footbath elicited significant reductions in CAVI at 0 min compared to the same trial's baseline in both young and older groups (0.55 ± 0.07, P = 0.01 for young; 0.42 ± 0.15, P = 0.03 for older, respectively) with no changes found in the control trials. The percentage of CAVI change at 0 min was significantly greater in young women (91.9 ± 1.1%) compared to older women (96.5 ± 1.8%, P < 0.05). This study indicated that acute warm footbath results in transient improvement of systemic arterial stiffness in both healthy young and older women. Despite similar intervention, the percentage response of arterial stiffness to footbath was attenuated in older women.

Experimental study on skin temperature and thermal response of the foot-bather

“…Effects on human health of footbath have been investigated and confirmed since 1960s [2][3][4]. The local exposure to warm water would dilate the blood vessels underneath the skin and then increases the blood flow via blood capillaries and finally enhance the distal-proximal skin temperature gradient, leading to a transient improvement in the blood circulation [5,6], systemic arterial stiffness [7], and sleep quality [8][9][10]. In the recent years, the warm footbath has become a nursing approach for older people for its safe and convenience, compared to immersion of the whole body in warm water.…”

Passive heat therapy: the next hot thing for cardiovascular health!

“…; Hu et al . ). While the efficacy of thermal therapy on cardiovascular health has at this point been demonstrated by multiple studies, the underlying mechanisms are less understood.…”

“…The literature has suggested that part of the mechanism by which heat therapy ameliorates cardiovascular health is through alleviation of arterial stiffness (Hu et al . ). Consequently, Brunt et al .…”

“…While carotid arterial compliance did not show a similar response to heat therapy, being statistically unchanged from the control, superficial femoral dynamic arterial compliance did display a significant increase also following a logarithmic pattern after heat therapy, reinforcing the results of earlier studies showing decreases in arterial stiffness (Hu et al . ; Brunt et al . ).…”

“…() showed diminishing results from heat therapy in older patients, meaning that it may not be as effective as a preventive treatment in elderly patients (Hu et al . ), who also have elevated risks for cardiovascular illness. This phenomenon should be studied in greater depth to verify it because the study in question only investigates the effects of footbaths on cardiovascular health.…”