By YUSUKE OGAWA/ Staff Writer
February 17, 2023 at 08:00 JST
One of Japan’s top hot spring resorts, the Beppu onsen resort in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, in 2017 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
BEPPU, Oita Prefecture--People who bathe in a hot spring daily are less prone to developing depression, researchers found.
A team from Kyushu University Beppu Hospital in Oita Prefecture speculated that habitual hot spring bathing can help maintain a person’s mental balance and prevent depression among older people.
The team was led by Takahiko Horiuchi, a professor in the hospital’s internal medicine department, colleague Toyoki Maeda, who holds the status of associate professor, and lecturer Satoshi Yamasaki.
They surveyed city residents aged 65 or older to ascertain how often they bathe in hot springs. Beppu is renowned as one of the nation’s top onsen resorts.
The researchers also asked the residents about their medical histories and other questions. The team analyzed valid responses from 10,429 people.
Of them, 219 said they had a history of depression.
Among those who said they have no history of depression, 27.8 percent said they bathe in hot springs less than once a month, while 37.4 percent of those with a history of depression gave the same reply.
There was a tendency among people with a history of depression to bathe in hot springs less frequently, compared with those who are free of the affliction, according to the researchers.
Further analysis made using a method to predict the risk of developing depression showed that those who bathe in hot springs daily are around 40 percent less likely to suffer from depression compared with those who don’t.
Some researchers overseas have reported that taking a bath before bedtime can help a person fall asleep faster.
The team said it is possible that hot spring bathing before bedtime helps improve the quality of sleep and results in a lower likelihood of depression developing among older people.
“It is ideal to bathe in a hot spring every day, but just bathing in a bathtub also improves the quality of sleep,” said Yamasaki. “Acquiring the habit of taking not only a shower but also a bath, no matter how busy you are, is highly recommended.”
The research paper was published in the British academic journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine.
To read the paper, go to: (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2022.102909).
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