Abstract
The objective of this study was to assess biothermal conditions in the selected Polish health resorts for specific forms of climatic therapy. We calculated Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) for ten-year period (2008- 2017) and then added adjustment terms, taking into account changes in metabolic rates during various physical activities from resting to vigorous exercise. The adjusted UTCI values increased with rising activity, implying that warmer parts of the year were unsuitable for intensive forms of climatotherapy. These results demonstrate that the UTCI adjustment procedure provides well-balanced assessments of bioclimatic conditions for the purpose of climatic treatment considering the level of activity
Highlights
Climatic therapy is a popular treatment applied worldwide in health and SPA resorts (Kozłowska-Szczęsna et al, 2002; Kazandjieva et al, 2008; Kanayama et al, 2017), which exploits the beneficial properties of local climates in prophylaxis and rehabilitation (Mączyński, 1978).It functions by exposing the patient to meteorological stimuli of adequate intensity for a certain period of time, which induces functional, metabolic and morphological changes in the human body (Ponikowska, 1995; Routh et al, 1996)
In the years 2008-2017 the average 10-day values of Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) in the health resorts in question varied from -8.4°C (Fig. 2) in January in BuskoZdrój to 27.9°C in August, in Busko-Zdrój, which indicates the occurrence of thermal strain from moderate cold stress to moderate heat stress during calm walks (2.3 MET)
The coastal resort in Kołobrzeg was characterised by distinctly lower UTCI values, while the highest heat stress was noted in the lowland resort in Busko-Zdrój
Summary
Climatic therapy ( called climatotherapy) is a popular treatment applied worldwide in health and SPA resorts (Kozłowska-Szczęsna et al, 2002; Kazandjieva et al, 2008; Kanayama et al, 2017), which exploits the beneficial properties of local climates in prophylaxis and rehabilitation (Mączyński, 1978).It functions by exposing the patient to meteorological stimuli (air temperature and humidity, barometric pressure and sunlight) of adequate intensity for a certain period of time, which induces functional, metabolic and morphological changes in the human body (Ponikowska, 1995; Routh et al, 1996). Climatic therapy ( called climatotherapy) is a popular treatment applied worldwide in health and SPA resorts (Kozłowska-Szczęsna et al, 2002; Kazandjieva et al, 2008; Kanayama et al, 2017), which exploits the beneficial properties of local climates in prophylaxis and rehabilitation (Mączyński, 1978). The most popular forms of climatotherapy in Polish health resorts are heliotherapy (solar radiation treatment; sunbathing with focus on UVB intake), aerotherapy (beneficial influence of fresh air on an individual resting outdoors in the shade) and terrain therapy (based on dynamic exercise outdoors) (Ponikowska, 2015). For climatotherapeutic treatments to effectively support other forms of health resort treatment, local biothermal conditions should be conducive to preservation of the organism’s thermal balance while straining the human thermoregulation system as little as possible (Kuchcik et al, 2013). During short exposures to a hot environment, older people and patients with chronic disease or poor fitness more frequently experience increased levels of thermal strain, as a result of impairments in their sudomotor and vasomotor capacity to dissipate excessive heat (Stapleton et al, 2013; Kenny & Flouris, 2014)
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