The elucidation of the hemodynamic characteristics in the patients following the treadmill exercises and a procedure in the oxygenhyperthermal heat chamber

The present study was designed to compare, based on the results of evaluation using the SCORE scale, the influence of physical exercises (treadmill workouts) in the combination with a sauna bath therapeutic procedure in the multifunctional oxygen-hyperthermal heat chamber on the main hemodynamic parameters and energy generation in the patients at low risk of developing cardiovascular diseases . The study included 43 patients above 20 years of age (34 men and 9 women at the age from 24 to 63 years). They performed intense treadmill exercises followed by a sauna bath procedure in a thermal chamber (“Sybaritic, Inc.” Alfa Led Oxy Light Spa™). The patients’ performance on the treadmill was assessed based on the overall oxygen consumption or metabolic equivalent and the responsiveness to the sauna bath therapeutic procedure in the thermal chamber from the loss of calories. Initial systolic arterial pressure (SAP), diastolic arterial pressure (DAP), and the heart rate (HR) measured prior to the treadmill exercises and the sauna bath procedure were not significantly different. The difference between maximum SAP, DAP, and HR values after treadmill exercises and those measured immediately after the sauna bath procedure acquired statistical significance (in all cases, p = 0.0001). The difference between the loss of calories during treadmill exercises and the sauna bath procedure was not significantly different (328 ± 84.5 and 296.3 ± 74.8 respectively, p < 0.19). It is concluded that, unlike the treadmill exercises, the thermal stress did not cause sharp changes of AP and HR comparable with those in response to the physical load. It means that the infrared thermal system can play as important role in the complex of health-promotion programs as physical exercises.

treadmill exercises, sauna bath therapy, arterial pressure, the loss of calories