Released June 6, 2008
MURFREESBORO, Ark. - Drinking plenty of water is an essential element to staying healthy in the hot summer months. Robbie McKinnon, Pike County extension agent with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, says being in the water should be another.
"The simple act of immersing yourself may be the best medicine out there," McKinnon said. "You even burn more calories simply standing in water. Add exercise to the mix, and you've got a recipe for healing."
The simple act of being in the water for at least 20 minutes has several benefits, including:
- Lowered blood pressure
- Reduced stress hormones
- Strengthened respiration muscles
- Enhanced cardiovascular efficiency
- Improved kidney function
- Decreased swelling
- Increased muscle blood circulation
- Offloaded joints
- Increased circulation to joints
"Water compresses the body; it pushes blood into the deep vessels during immersion," McKinnon said. "Muscle circulation then improves, and there's a consequent increase in oxygen delivery, which is useful for muscle healing or recovering from exercise."
With neck-deep immersion, nearly three-quarters of a quart of blood is displaced. Two-thirds goes into large pulmonary vessels and one-third goes into the heart. Because of the extra volume, the heart increases the amount of blood propelled with each beat, called stroke volume, approximately 30 percent.
During immersion, up to 250 percent more oxygen-rich blood is pushed into deep muscle tissues. The heart also grows in size, improving cardiac output and overall heart health.
"Even at rest, during neck-depth immersion, the heart is performing just as it would during exercise on land," McKinnon said.
The advantages of water immersion can be seen in therapies of heart failure patients, stress patients, respiratory illness patients, osteoporosis patients and athletes. The combined effects of all the properties of water, from buoyancy through hydrostatic pressure to its thermal conductive properties, make the aquatic environment tremendously useful for effective health recovery and maintenance and recreation.
"In other words, spend the summer in the lake," McKinnon said.
The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.
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http://www.uaex.edu/news/june2008/0606water.htm
Contact: Lamar James, (501) 671-2187, ljames@uaex.edu
