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Infrared Sauna Clinical Test Results

LuxSauna: Earlier Bio-Spectrum heaters Test Results: 2002

Infrared_heat_chart.jpg

This Chart was produced by the National Infrared & Industrial Electrothermal Product Quality Supervision & Test Centre specifically for Bio Spectrum heaters. The two lines represent energy produced by the human body and the correlating energy produced by LuxSaunas Bio Spectrum heaters. This relationship means that energy produced by LuxSauna Far Infrared Heaters converge on a parallel line with equal production at the same level as the human body. This means this heat penetrates virtually at the speed of light, since the heat production matches your body, giving you an enormous range of health benefits you should expect when using an infrared sauna by LuxSauna.

“The 1980’s was the decade of high-impact aerobics classes and high-mileage training. Yet there was something elitist about the way exercise was prescribed. Only strenuous workouts would do, you had to raise your heart rate to between X and Y, and the only way to go was to go for the burn. Such strictures insured that most ‘real’ exercisers were relatively young and in good shape to begin with. Many Americans got caught up in the fitness boom, but probably just as many fell by the wayside. As we’ve reported recent research shows that you don’t have to run marathons to become fit – that burning just 1,000 calories a week is enough. Anything goes, as long as it burns these calories.”

– Wellness Letter, 10/90, University of California, Berkeley.

Outstanding Caloric Consumption and Weight Control

In Guyton’s Textbook of Medical Physiology, we find that producing one gram of sweat requires 0.568 kcal. The journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) states:

“A moderately conditioned person can easily sweat off 500 grams in a sauna consuming nearly 300 kcal, which is equivalent to running 2 ~ 3 miles. A heat-conditioned person can easily sweat off 600 ~ 800 kcal with no adverse effects. While the weight of the water loss can be regained by drinking water, the calories consumed will not be.”

Since an infrared thermal system helps generate two or three times the sweat produced in a hot-air sauna, the implications for increased caloric consumption are quite impressive. Assuming “a sauna”, as mentioned in JAMA, to last for 30 minutes, some interesting comparisons might be drawn. Two of the highest calorie-consuming forms of exercises are rowing and marathon running. Peak output on a rowing machine or during a marathon run burns about 600 calories in 30 minutes. An infrared thermal system may enhance this effect from “just slightly” up to as much as 250% by burning about 900 ~ 2,400 calories in a 30 minute session. An infrared thermal system might then simulate the consumption of energy equal to that expanded in a 6 ~ 9 mile run during only a single session. An infrared thermal system can, thus, play a pivotal role in both weight control and cardiovascular conditioning. This would be very valuable for those who don’t exercise and those who can’t exercise yet want an effective weight control and fitness maintenance program and the benefits of a regular exercise.

How Many Calories You Will Burn

Here are how many calories a 150 pound person normally burns up in 30 minutes of exercise:

SPORT

CALORIES

Rowing (peak effort) 600
Running (marathon) 593
Racquet Ball (vigorous) 510
Jogging 300
Swimming (crawl stroke) 300
Tennis (fast game) 265
Chopping Wood 265
Cycling (10mph) 225
Golfing (without cart) 150
Walking (3.5mph) 150
Bowling 120
[An infrared sauna may burn anywhere from 300 to 600 calories in a 30 minute period. This is a widely accepted conservative average range]

3. Musculoskeletal Cases [pain, stiffness, Arthritis, accelerated healing , etc…

Success reported with infrared treatments by Japanese researchers

                 
                “Medical practitioners make use of infrared Radiant heat to treat sprains, strains, bursitis, peripheral vascular diseases, arthritis, and muscle pain…” – McGraw/Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Dr. Masao Nakamura of the O & P Medical Clinic in Japan has reported great success with the use of infrared treatment for:

•              TMJ Arthritis
•              Muscle spasms – reduced or eliminated
•              Whiplash
•              Sciatica
•              Menopause
•              Arthritis
•              Shoulder Stiffness
•              Rheumatism
•              Acne
•              Gastro enteric Problems
•              Ear Diseases
•              Insomnia
•              Traumatic Arthritis
•              Lower Back Pain – relieved               Pain Relief – Rheumatoid Arthritis
A case study was reported in Sweden of a 70 year old man with Rheumatoid Arthritis secondary to acute rheumatic fever. He had reached his toxic limit on Gold injections and his Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate was still at 125. Within 5 months of undergoing an infrared treatment, his ESR was down to only 11. IN the case of rheumatic arthritis of a 14-year old Swedish girl who couldn’t’ walk comfortably downstairs due to knee pain since she had been eight years old, her rheumatologist told her mother that her child would be in a wheelchair within 2 years if she refused gold corticosteroid therapy. However, after 3 infrared sauna treatments, she began to become more agile and subsequently took up folk dancing, without the aid of the conventional approach in her recovery. A clinical trial in Japan reported the successful solution in seven out of seven cases of Rheumatoid Arthritis treated with whole-body infrared therapy. These case studies and clinical trials indicate that further study is warranted on the usage of whole-body infrared therapy in the care of patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. The following is a summary from Therapeutic Heat and Cold, 4thEdition, Ed. Justus F. Lehmann M.D., Williams and Wilkins, Chapter 9 or concluded from the data therein. Generally it is accepted that heat produces the following desirable therapeutic effects.
•              Acel-decel Injury Sequelae
•              Adhesions – lengthened or more easily broken; they are common in competitive athletes, trauma and repetitive stress syndromes.

1. It increases the extensibility of collagen tissues.

•              Disc-protrusion Related Neuralgia
•              Tissues heated to 45 degrees C and then stretched exhibit a non-elastic residual elongation of about 0.5-0.9% that persists after the stretch is removed. It does not occur in these same tissues when stretched at normal tissue temperatures. Thus 20 stretching sessions can produce around 10-18% increase in length in tissues heated and stretched.
•              This effect would be especially valuable in working with ligaments, joint capsules, tendons, fasciae, and synovium that have become scarred, thickened or contracted.
•              Such stretching at 45 degrees C caused much less weakening in stretched tissues for a given elongation than a similar elongation produced at normal tissue temperatures.
•              The cited experiments clearly show that low-impact stretching can produce a significant residual elongation when heat is applied together with stretching or range-of-motion exercises, which is also safer than stretching tissues at normal tissue temperatures.
•              This safer stretching effect is crucial in properly training competitive athletes so as to minimize their “down” time from injuries.
•              Brain Contusion – accelerated healing
•              Tight shoulders – relaxed

2. It decreases joint stiffness directly.
•              Compression Fracture – Example: pain stopped for 3 days with only a single treatment
•              There was a 20% decrease in stiffness at 45 degrees C as compared with 33 degrees C in rheumatoid finger joints, which correlated perfectly to both subjective and objective observations in stiffness.
•              Any stiffened joint and thickened connective tissues should respond in a similar fashion.
•              Spinal Cord Shock – post traumatic shock reversed
•              Muscle Tension – relaxed

3. It relieves muscle spasms.
•              Post-exercise Muscle Pain – relieved, which is vital to competitive athletes
•              Muscle spasms have long been observed to be reduced through the use of heat, be they secondary to underlying skeletal joint or neuro-pathological conditions.
•              This result is possibly produced by the combined effect of heat on both primary and secondary afferent from spindle cells and from its effects on Golgi tendon organs. The effects produced by each of these mechanisms demonstrated their peak effect within the therapeutic temperature range obtainable with radiant heat.
•              Arthritis (Gouty, Rheumatoid & DJD) – each substantially relieved or improved
•              Shoulder Pain – relieved or eliminated

4. It produces pain relief.
•              Bursitis – eliminated
•              Pain may be relieved via the reduction of attendant or secondary muscle spasms. Pain is also at times related to ischemia due to tension or spasms, which can be improved by the hyperemia that heat-induced vasodilatation produces. This then breaks the feedback loop, in which the ischemia leads to further spasms and then more pain.
•              Heat has been shown to reduce pain sensation by direct action on both free-nerve endings in tissues and on peripheral nerves. In one dental study, repeated heat applications eventually led to abolishment of the whole nerve response responsible for pain arising from dental pulp.
•              Heat may lead to both increased endorphin production and a shutting down of the so-called “spinal gate” of Melzack and Wall, each of which can reduce pain.

4. It increases blood flow.

•              Heating of one area of the body produces reflex-modulated vasodilatation in distant-body areas, even in the absence of a change in core body temperature; i.e. heat one extremity and the contra lateral extremity also dilates; heat a forearm and both lower extremities dilate; heat the front of the trunk and the hand dilates.
•              Heating of muscles produces an increased blood flow level similar to that seen during an exercise.
•              Temperature elevation produces an increase in blood flow and dilation directly in capillaries, arterioles, and venuies, probably through direct action on their smooth muscles. The release of bradykinin, released as a consequence of sweat-gland activity, also produces increased blood flow and vasodilatation.
•              Whole-body hyperthermia, with a consequent core temperature elevation, further induces vasodilatation via a hypothalamic-induced decrease in sympathetic tone on the arteriovenous anastomoses. Vasodilatation is also produced by axonal reflexes and by reflexes that change vasomotor balance.

“Medical practitioners make use of infrared Radiant heat to treat sprains, strains, bursitis, peripheral vascular diseases, arthritis, and muscle pain…” – McGraw/Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Dr. Masao Nakamura of the O & P Medical Clinic in Japan has reported great success with the use of infrared treatment for:

5. It assists in resolution of inflammatory infiltrates, edema and exudates.

•              Whiplash
•              The increased peripheral circulation provides the transportation needed to help evacuate the edema, which can help stop inflammation, decrease pain and help speed healing.
•              Sciatica
•              Menopause

6. Cancer Therapy

•              Arthritis
•              This is a new and experimental procedure.
•              It shows a great promise in some cases when used properly.
•              American researchers favor careful monitoring of the tumor temperature; whereas, the success reported in Japan make no mention of such precautions.
•              Shoulder Stiffness
•              Rheumatism         Infrared healing is now becoming the leading edge in the care of soft tissue injuries to promote both relief in chronic and intractable “permanent” cases, and accelerated healing in newer injuries. Localized infrared therapy using lamps tuned to the 2 ~ 25 micron waveband is used for the treatment and relief of pain by over 40 reputable Chinese Medical Institutes.

6. Researchers reported over 90% success in a summary of Chinese studies that assessed the effect of infrared therapy on:

•              Acne
•              Gastro enteric Problems
•              Soft tissue injury
•              Lumbar strain
•              Periarthritis of the shoulder
•              Sciatica
•              Pain during Menstruation
•              Neurodermatitis
•              Eczema with Infection
•              Post-surgical Infections
•              Diarrhea
•              Cholecystitis
•              Neurasthenia
•              Pelvic Infection
•              Pediatric Pneumonia
•              Tineas
•              Frostbite with inflammation
•              Facial Paralysis (Bell’s Palsy)
•              Ear Diseases
•              Insomnia

7. Japanese researchers, as reported in the book Infrared Therapy by Dr. Yamajaki, have produced the following provocative results.

•              Burns: relieves pain and decreases healing time, with less scarring.
•              High Blood Pressure: safe in 40 ~ 50 degrees C range and regular use helps to lower it
•              Low Blood Pressure: sauna trains body to raise it
•              Brain Damage: accelerated repair in brain contusions
•              Short-term memory improved
•              Cancer of the tongue reversed
•              Toxic Electromagnetic Fields: effects neutralized
•              Cerebral Hemorrhages: recover is both sped up and significantly enhanced
•              Auto Accident: related soft tissue injury – daily sessions were used until best healing was attained; the residuals from such injuries lasted three days before another treatment was necessary.
•              Arthritis, acute and chronic was greatly relieved
•              Gouty Arthritis: relieved
•              Rheumatoid Arthritis: relieved
•              Menopause Symptoms: relieved chills, nervousness, depression, dizziness, head and stomach aches
•              Weight Loss: first, through sweating and the energy use needed to produce the sweat and second, through direct excretion of fat.
                                                                 

Pain Relief – Rheumatoid Arthritis

A case study was reported in Sweden of a 70 year old man with Rheumatoid Arthritis secondary to acute rheumatic fever. He had reached his toxic limit on Gold injections and his Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate was still at 125. Within 5 months of undergoing an infrared treatment, his ESR was down to only 11. IN the case of rheumatic arthritis of a 14-year old Swedish girl who couldn’t’ walk comfortably downstairs due to knee pain since she had been eight years old, her rheumatologist told her mother that her child would be in a wheelchair within 2 years if she refused gold corticosteroid therapy. However, after 3 infrared sauna treatments, she began to become more agile and subsequently took up folk dancing, without the aid of the conventional approach in her recovery. A clinical trial in Japan reported the successful solution in seven out of seven cases of Rheumatoid Arthritis treated with whole-body infrared therapy. These case studies and clinical trials indicate that further study is warranted on the usage of whole-body infrared therapy in the care of patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. The following is a summary from Therapeutic Heat and Cold, 4thEdition, Ed. Justus F. Lehmann M.D., Williams and Wilkins, Chapter 9 or concluded from the data therein. Generally it is accepted that heat produces the following desirable therapeutic effects.

1. It increases the extensibility of collagen tissues.

•              Tissues heated to 45 degrees C and then stretched exhibit a non-elastic residual elongation of about 0.5-0.9% that persists after the stretch is removed. It does not occur in these same tissues when stretched at normal tissue temperatures. Thus 20 stretching sessions can produce around 10-18% increase in length in tissues heated and stretched.
•              This effect would be especially valuable in working with ligaments, joint capsules, tendons, fasciae, and synovium that have become scarred, thickened or contracted.
•              Such stretching at 45 degrees C caused much less weakening in stretched tissues for a given elongation than a similar elongation produced at normal tissue temperatures.
•              The cited experiments clearly show that low-impact stretching can produce a significant residual elongation when heat is applied together with stretching or range-of-motion exercises, which is also safer than stretching tissues at normal tissue temperatures.

Ear Nose and Throat conditions:
•              This safer stretching effect is crucial in properly training competitive athletes so as to minimize their “down” time from injuries.
•              Chronic middle-ear inflammation or infection: in one clinical study of chronic serousotitis media no pathogenic bacteria were isolated in 70% of the subjects studied
•              Sore throats
•              Tinitus: chronic severe case cleared with 10 infrared treatments
•              Nose bleeding
                 

2. It decreases joint stiffness directly .

•              Nettle rash
•              Clogged pores are unplugged of cosmetics creating a skin texture and tone of unexcelled quality. Mikkel Aaland’s book Sweat (Capra Press, 1978) quotes a Finnish doctor to the effect that: “The best dressed foreigner can come into a doctor’s office, and when his skin is examined, it is found to be rough as bark. On the other hand, as a result of the sauna, the skin of any Finnish worker is supple and healthy”
•              Poor skin tone is restored to a more youthful level
•              Scars and pain from burns or wounds are decreased in severity and extent. Infrared therapy is used routinely in burn units throughout Asia.
•              Lacerations heal quicker and with less pain and scarring
•              Acne: three or four infrared treatments may open pores that have not been functioning in years, forcing out clogging cosmetics and loosening dead outer skin. The sauna is thus a boon to teenage skin, clearing acne and blackheads.
•              Body odor: by improving the function of the skin, the infrared treatments may eliminate the cause of offensive body odor. It definitely reduces body odor induced by occupational exposure to odorous chemicals.
•              Eczema and Psoriasis: reported to have responded extremely well to infrared treatments
•              Sunburn: according to the 9th edition of Clayton’s Electrotherapy, “infrared is the only antidote to excessive ultraviolet radiation.”
•              Keloids form at a reduced rate in those prone to their formation with infrared treatments and may be softened by use of infrared systems if they have formed.
•              There was a 20% decrease in stiffness at 45 degrees C as compared with 33 degrees C in rheumatoid finger joints, which correlated perfectly to both subjective and objective observations in stiffness.

Contraindications

As you can see, the segment of the infrared spectrum emitted by an infrared sauna, such as the LuxSauna Far Infrared Sauna is reputed to offer an astounding range of possible therapeutic benefits and effects in research conducted around the world.

The data presented in this article is offered for reference purposes only and to stimulate further observation. No implication of the LuxSauna Far Infrared Saunas creating a cure for or treating any disease is implied nor should it be inferred. If you have a disease, be sure to consult with a primary-care physician concerning it.

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