J Cardiol 2007 Jun; 49（6）: 301 – 304

Editorial
和温療法

Waon Therapy:
Soothing Warmth Therapy

忠 和

Chuwa TEI, MD, FJCC

Medical progress in the 20th century has been
striking, and the advancement of the diagnosis andtreatment of cardiovascular diseases has greatly
contributed toward prolonging life expectancy.
However, for patients who receive treatment fordiseases, this being not limited to cardiovasculardiseases, there is no way of determining the gravityof internal suffering and conflict. Patients accept
any examination and treatment that can help themto recover from diseases, even when it may involve
pain. All surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, andtransplant therapy are therapies that inflict considerable pain and long term suffering on patients,mentally and physically. Patients still accept suchtherapy, because they expect it to help them recoverfrom their disease.
Without suffering from the diseases, it is impossible to understand the extent of pain, tension, andstress that are imposed on patients with the purposeof saving life. Even if the suffering of patients arising from various intractable diseases can be treatedwith inpatient hospital care at a large hospital combined with state-of-the-art medical facilities,
patients have no opportunity, during the course oftreatment, to experience a feeling of comfort and apleasant state of mind arising from refreshing perspiration.
The treatment modality thermal therapy that I
have worked on since 1989 is a warming therapy
for soothing the mind and body equally, with 60 °C
dry far-infrared sauna bathing. Therefore, if thermal therapy is referred to as Waon therapy, it

is easy to understand the true meaning as distinguished from, for example, local high-heat therapy for cancer.
Soothing warmth : Waon is aword I have coined, and Waon can be understood in Japanese as soothing warmth, meaning
warmth that comfortably refreshes the mind andbody. In other words, Waon is the essence ofthe thermal therapy that I have been improving
and refining for eighteen years. Therefore, to obtaina correct understanding of my thermal therapy
modality, I would like to refer to it as Waon therapy : soothing warmth therapy and I would like tofamiliarize readers further with the idea.
Waon therapy is defined as therapy inwhich the entire body is warmed in an evenly heated chamber（device）for 15 min at a temperaturethat soothes the mind and body, and after the deepbody temperature has increased by approximately
C, the soothing warmth effects are sus1.0−1.2 °tained by maintaining the warmth at rest for anadditional 30 min, with fluids corresponding to perspiration being supplied at the end.
There are various clinical applications 1−11）of
Waon therapy, and the effects are dramatic. In
particular, a drastic recovery is often seen in
intractable diseases that are resistant to drug therapy, such as severe heart failure,1）which is an indication of the need for a heart transplant, peripheralartery disease with intractable ulcer, 6）chronic
fatigue syndrome,8）severe fibromyalgia syndrome,9）and salivary secretion failure caused by Sjögren ssyndrome.10）The effects are remarkable, and Waon

鄭──────────────────────────────────────────────
鹿児島大学大学院医歯学総合研究科 循環器・呼吸器・代謝内科学 : 〒 890−8520 鹿児島県鹿児島市桜ヶ丘 8−35−1
Department of Cardiovascular, Respiratory and Metabolic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima
Address for correspondence : TEI C, MD, FJCC, Department of Cardiovascular, Respiratory and Metabolic Medicine, Graduate Schoolof Medicine, Kagoshima University, Sakuragaoka 8−35−1, Kagoshima, Kagoshima 890−8520 ; E-mail : tei@m.kufm.kagoshimau.ac.jp

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Tei

therapy is not simply therapy for organs and local
sites. It also improves the systemic vascular function, corrects central and peripheral autonomic
nerves and neurohumoral factors（ hormonalactivity）, and activates autoimmunity and the biodefense mechanism.
If Waon therapy is performed once a day for
3−5 days a week over the course of a 2−6-weekperiod（10 weeks for peripheral artery disease）, a
clearly positive effect on the intractable diseases
mentioned above can be obtained. Furthermore,with subsequent continuation for 2−3 days a week,
the effects of Waon therapy can also be steadily
maintained.
To demonstrate the effectiveness of Waon therapy as a comprehensive therapy, the effects onchronic heart failure are briefly described in the following example. Waon therapy improves theclinical conditions, cardiac function, and vascularfunction of patients with chronic heart failure andcorrects abnormal autonomic nervous response andneurohumoral factors.3）It dilates systemic arteries
and veins to reduce the preload and afterload on theheart and significantly increase cardiac output.1）
Arrhythmia caused by chronic heart failure is significantly decreased.4）In addition, Waon therapy
considerably improves a depressive state, insomnia,anorexia, and ill feelings of patients with heart failure.3）If Waon therapy is performed once a day
for 5 days a week over the course of a 2-week period（10 times in total）, cardiomegaly is significantly
reduced, the cardiac function is improved, and atrial and brain natriuretic peptides can be significantly
decreased.3）If Waon therapy is subsequently
continued even further, then the prognosis ofpatients with chronic heart failure tends to significantly improve. In an investigation using a heart

References
1）Tei C, Horikiri Y, Park JC, Jeong JW, Chang KS, Toyama
Y, Tanaka N : Acute hemodynamic improvement by thermal vasodilation in congestive heart failure. Circulation
1995 ; 91 : 2582−25902）Tei C, Tanaka N : Thermal vasodilation as a treatment ofcongestive heart failure : A novel approach. J Cardiol
1996 ; 27 : 29−303）Kihara T, Biro S, Imamura M, Yoshifuku S, Takasaki K,Ikeda Y, Otuji Y, Minagoe S, Toyama Y, Tei C : Repeatedsauna treatment improves vascular endothelial and cardiac
function in patients with chronic heart failure. J Am CollCardiol 2002 ; 39 : 754−759

failure model（TO-2 hamsters）, it was verified thatthe group for which Waon therapy was continually repeated once a day had a 35% improved survival rate compared to the group without this therapy.12）
Waon therapy significantly improves theendothelium-dependent vasodilatory potency ofpatients with heart failure. In an experiment using
heart failure model hamsters, Waon therapy
considerably increased the expression of mRNA ofvascular endothelial nitric oxide synthase（eNOS）
invascular endothelial and intensified the expressionof eNOS protein.13,14）A remarkable expression ofmRNA and protein of eNOS was also observed in
an experiment with peripheral arterial disease models.15）Specifically, after an apolipoprotein E-knockout mouse has a femoral artery removed, if Waon
therapy is continually repeated once a day for 35days, the expression of mRNA and the protein levelof eNOS also considerably increases, while thenumber of blood capillaries increases, the bloodflow remarkably improves in the ischemic limbs,
and angiogenesis can be achieved. In other words,
Waon therapy is deeply involved in the production of effects on genetic, molecular, and cellularlevels, and this treatment modality therefore plays
an important role in the recovery of the living body.
Waon therapy is safe and highly cost-efficient, and is also a gentle comprehensive therapy
that soothes patients and encourages refreshing perspiration, unlike conventional therapy, which oftenrequires the patient s endurance. I sincerely hopethat Waon therapy will be approved for coverage by medical insurance as soon as possible, as a
new therapy for the 21th century. Such approval
would be very good news for our patients.

4）Kihara T, Biro S, Ikeda Y, Fukudome T, Shinsato T,Masuda A, Miyata M, Hamasaki S, Otsuji Y, Minagoe S,Akiba S, Tei C : Effects of repeated sauna treatment onventricular arrhythmias in patients with chronic heart failure. Circ J 2004 ; 68 : 1146−11515）Imamura M, Biro S, Kihara T, Yoshifuku S, Takasaki K,Otsuji Y, Minagoe S, Toyama Y, Tei C : Repeated thermal
therapy improves impaired vascular endothelial function inpatients with coronary risk factors. J Am Coll Cardiol
2001 ; 38 : 1083−10886）Tei C, Shinsato T, Kihara T, Miyata M : Successful thermal
therapy for end-stage peripheral artery disease. J Cardiol
2006 ; 47 : 163−1647）Masuda A, Nakazato M, Kihara T, Minagoe S, Tei C :J Cardiol 2007 Jun; 49（6）: 301– 304

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303

Repeated thermal therapy diminishes appetite loss and subjective complaints in mildly depressed patients. Psychosom
Med 2005 ; 67 : 643−6478）Masuda A, Kihara T, Fukudome T, Shinsato T, Minagoe S,Tei C : The effects of repeated thermal therapy for twopatients with chronic fatigue syndrome. J Psychosom Res
2005 ; 58 : 383−3879）Masuda A, Koga Y, Hattanmaru M, Minagoe S, Tei C :The effects of repeated thermal therapy for patients withchronic pain. Psychother Psychosom 2005 ; 74 : 288−29410）Tei C, Orihara K, Fukudome : Remarkable efficacy of thermal therapy for Sjögren syndrome. J Cardiol 2007 ; 49:217−21911）Masuda A, Miyata M, Kihara T, Minagoe S, Tei C :Repeated sauna therapy reduces urinary 8-epi-prostaglandinF（2alpha）. Jpn Heart J 2004 ; 45 : 297−30312）Ikeda Y, Biro S, Kamogawa Y, Yoshifuku S, Kihara T,Minagoe S, Tei C : Effect of repeated sauna therapy on sur-vival in TO-2 cardiomyopathic hamsters with heart failure.
Am J Cardiol 2002 ; 90 : 343−34513）Ikeda Y, Biro S, Kamogawa Y, Yoshifuku S, Eto H,Orihara K, Kihara T, Tei C : Repeated thermal therapy
upregulates arterial endothelial nitric oxide synthase
expression in Syrian golden hamsters. Jpn Circ J 2001 ; 65:434−43814）Ikeda Y, Biro S, Kamogawa Y, Yoshifuku S, Eto H,Orihara K, Yu B, Kihara T, Miyata M, Hamasaki S, Otsuji
Y, Minagoe S, Tei C : Repeated sauna therapy increases
arterial endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression andnitric oxide production in cardiomyopathic hamsters. Circ J
2005 ; 69 : 722−729
15）Akasaki Y, Miyata M, Eto H, Shirasawa T, Hamada N,Ikeda Y, Biro S, Otsuji Y, Tei C : Repeated thermal therapy
up-regulates endothelial nitric oxide synthase and augments
angiogenesis in a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia. CircJ 2006 ; 70 : 463−470

20 世紀の医学の進歩はめざましく，心・血管疾患の診断および治療の発展は平均寿命の延長に大きく貢献してきた．しかし心・血管疾患に限らず病気を有し治療を受ける患者にとって，内面の苦悩・葛藤がどれほど深刻なものであるかは知る由もない．病気からの回復に役立つ検査や治療であれば，いかなる苦痛を伴うものでも患者は受け入れる．20 世紀に飛躍的に発展した外科手術・放射線治療・化学療法・移植療法のすべては，患者の心身にかなりの苦痛と我慢を強いる治療法である．それでも患者がこれらの治療を受け入れるのは病気の回復に役立つことを期待しているからである．
救命するとの大義のもとで，患者に与える痛み・緊張・ストレスがどれほど大きいかは，同じ病に苦しまない限り理解することはできない．種々の難治性疾患に苦しむ患者が，最先端の医療設備を兼ね備えた大きな病院で入院加療できたとしても，治療中，爽快で心地よい汗をかき，笑顔がこぼれる気分や心境になる機会はない．
平成元年（1989 年）から取り組んできた「温熱療法」
は，全身を均等に 60 °C の乾式遠赤外線サウナ浴で心身を和ませる・ぬくもり療法である．したが って，「温熱療法」を「和温療法」と命名すると，「癌に対する高温での局所療法」などと区別して真の意味を理解しやすい．「和温 : Waon」は私の造語であるが，「和温」の二文字は訓読みで「なごむ・ぬくもり」で，「心地よく心身をリフレッシュさせるぬくもり」の意味がある．すなわち，「和温」は著者がこれまで 18 年間の歳月をかけて確立した「温熱療法」の真髄である．
したがって，これまで取り組んできた「温熱療法」の正しい理解を得るために，「和温療法 : Waon Therapy」と命名して，今後は普及させたい．

「和温療法」は，「心身を和ませる温度で全身を 15分間均等加温室（器）で保温し，深部体温を約 1.0−
1.2 °C 上昇させた後，さらに 30 分間の安静保温で和温効果を持続させ，終了時に発汗に見合う水分を補給する治療法である」と定義する．
「和温療法」の臨床応用は多彩である 1−11）が，その効果には目を見張るものがあり，とくに薬物療法で治療抵抗性の難治性疾患（心臓移植の適応となる重症心不全 1），難治性潰瘍を伴う閉塞性動脈硬化症 6），慢性疲労症候群 8）や重症の線維筋痛症 9），シェーグレン症
候群に伴う唾液分泌不全 10））に劇的な回復をみせることが少なくない．これらの効果は実に多彩で，「和温療法」は単なる臓器や局所の治療法ではない．全身の血管機能を改善し，中枢・末梢の自律神経や神経体液性因子（ホルモン活性）を是正し，自己免疫や生体防御機構を賦活化する．
「和温療法」を 1 日 1 回，週 3−5 日間，2−6 週間，施行すると（閉塞性動脈硬化症では 10 週間），前述の難治性疾患に明瞭な効果が得られる．さらに週 2−3 日間の反復継続により「和温療法」の効果は確実に持続する．
「和温療法」がいかに包括的治療として優れているかを実証するために，慢性心不全に対する効果を例にして簡潔に記す．「和温療法」は，慢性心不全患者の臨床症状・心機能・血管機能を改善させ，自律神経や神経体液性因子の異常を是正する 3）．全身の動脈・静脈を拡張させて心臓に対する前負荷・後負荷を軽減し，心拍出量を有意に増加させる 1）．慢性心不全に伴う不整脈は著しく減少する 4）．また「和温療法」により心不全患者の抑うつ状態・不眠・食欲不振・気分不良などは著明に改善する 3）．「和温療法」を 1 日 1 回，週 5 日間，2 週間（計 10 回）施行すると，心拡大の有意J Cardiol 2007 Jun; 49（6）: 301 – 304

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鄭な縮小，心機能の改善，心房性ナトリウム利尿ペプチ
ドや脳性ナトリウム利尿ペプチドの有意な減少などが確実に得られる 3）．「和温療法」をさらに反復継続すると心不全患者の予後を有意に改善する．心不全発症
モデル（TO-2 ハムスター）を用いた検討で，「和温療法」
を 1 日 1 回反復継続施行した群の生存率は，施行しなかった群に比べて 35% 生存率を改善することが確認されている 12）．
「和温療法」は心不全患者の内皮依存性血管拡張能を有意に改善する．心不全モデルハムスターを用いた実験で，「和温療法」は血管内皮における血管内皮型一酸化窒素合成酵素（endothelial nitric oxide synthase :eNOS）の mRNA の発現を著明に増加させ，eNOS 蛋白の発現を増強する 13，14）．eNOS の mRNA および蛋白の著明な発現は，閉塞性動脈硬化のモデル実験でも確認

文献1）Tei C, Horikiri Y, Park JC, Jeong JW, Chang KS, Toyama
Y, Tanaka N : Acute hemodynamic improvement by thermal vasodilation in congestive heart failure. Circulation
1995 ; 91 : 2582−2590
2）Tei C, Tanaka N : Thermal vasodilation as a treatment ofcongestive heart failure : A novel approach. J Cardiol
1996 ; 27 : 29−303）Kihara T, Biro S, Imamura M, Yoshifuku S, Takasaki K,Ikeda Y, Otuji Y, Minagoe S, Toyama Y, Tei C : Repeatedsauna treatment improves vascular endothelial and cardiac
function in patients with chronic heart failure. J Am CollCardiol 2002 ; 39 : 754−7594）Kihara T, Biro S, Ikeda Y, Fukudome T, Shinsato T,
Masuda A, Miyata M, Hamasaki S, Otsuji Y, Minagoe S,Akiba S, Tei C : Effects of repeated sauna treatment onventricular arrhythmias in patients with chronic heart failure. Circ J 2004 ; 68 : 1146−11515）Imamura M, Biro S, Kihara T, Yoshifuku S, Takasaki K,Otsuji Y, Minagoe S, Toyama Y, Tei C : Repeated thermal
therapy improves impaired vascular endothelial function inpatients with coronary risk factors. J Am Coll Cardiol
2001 ; 38 : 1083−10886）Tei C, Shinsato T, Kihara T, Miyata M : Successful thermal
therapy for end-stage peripheral artery disease. J Cardiol
2006 ; 47 : 163−1647）Masuda A, Nakazato M, Kihara T, Minagoe S, Tei C :Repeated thermal therapy diminishes appetite loss and subjective complaints in mildly depressed patients. Psychosom
Med 2005 ; 67 : 643−6478）Masuda A, Kihara T, Fukudome T, Shinsato T, Minagoe S,

されている 15）．すなわち，アポ E ノックアウトマウスの大腿動脈の剥離後，「和温療法」を 1 日 1 回，35 日間，反復継続すると，eNOS の mRNA および蛋白の発現は著明に増加し，毛細血管の数は増加し，虚血肢の血流の著明な改善と血管新生が得られる．すなわち，「和温療法」は遺伝子レベル，分子レベル，細胞レベルでその効果発現に深く関与し，生体の回復に重要な役割を演じている．
「和温療法」は安全で対費用効果に優れ，我慢を強いる従来の治療法とは異なり，患者を和ませ爽快な発汗を促す優しい包括的治療法である．「和温療法」が21 世紀の新しい治療法として，1 日も早く保険医療として承認され，患者の福音になることを心から念願したい．

Tei C : The effects of repeated thermal therapy for twopatients with chronic fatigue syndrome. J Psychosom Res
2005 ; 58 : 383−3879）Masuda A, Koga Y, Hattanmaru M, Minagoe S, Tei C :The effects of repeated thermal therapy for patients withchronic pain. Psychother Psychosom 2005 ; 74 : 288−29410）Tei C, Orihara K, Fukudome : Remarkable efficacy of thermal therapy for Sjögren syndrome. J Cardiol 2007 ; 49:
217−21911）Masuda A, Miyata M, Kihara T, Minagoe S, Tei C :Repeated sauna therapy reduces urinary 8-epi-prostaglandinF（2alpha）. Jpn Heart J 2004 ; 45 : 297−30312）Ikeda Y, Biro S, Kamogawa Y, Yoshifuku S, Kihara T,Minagoe S, Tei C : Effect of repeated sauna therapy on survival in TO-2 cardiomyopathic hamsters with heart failure.
Am J Cardiol 2002 ; 90 : 343−345
13）Ikeda Y, Biro S, Kamogawa Y, Yoshifuku S, Eto H,Orihara K, Kihara T, Tei C : Repeated thermal therapy
upregulates arterial endothelial nitric oxide synthase
expression in Syrian golden hamsters. Jpn Circ J 2001 ; 65:434−43814）Ikeda Y, Biro S, Kamogawa Y, Yoshifuku S, Eto H,Orihara K, Yu B, Kihara T, Miyata M, Hamasaki S, Otsuji
Y, Minagoe S, Tei C : Repeated sauna therapy increases
arterial endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression andnitric oxide production in cardiomyopathic hamsters. Circ J
2005 ; 69 : 722−72915）Akasaki Y, Miyata M, Eto H, Shirasawa T, Hamada N,Ikeda Y, Biro S, Otsuji Y, Tei C : Repeated thermal therapy
up-regulates endothelial nitric oxide synthase and augments
angiogenesis in a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia. CircJ 2006 ; 70 : 463−470

J Cardiol 2007 Jun; 49（6）: 301– 304