Soejima, Yuji, Munemoto, Takao, Masuda, Akinori et al. · Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) · 2015 · DOI
Researchers tested a heat therapy called Waon therapy, which uses a far-infrared sauna at 60°C for 15 minutes followed by rest, on 10 people with ME/CFS. After four weeks of daily treatment, patients reported significantly less fatigue and improved mood and daily functioning, with no harmful side effects reported.
ME/CFS currently lacks effective, evidence-based treatments, making exploration of novel thermal interventions potentially valuable. This study suggests a safe, non-pharmacological approach that may alleviate fatigue and improve quality of life, warranting larger controlled trials.
This small uncontrolled pilot study cannot establish that Waon therapy causes fatigue improvement—placebo effects, natural variation, or inpatient care setting effects could explain the results. The findings are preliminary and do not constitute proof of efficacy without replication in randomized, controlled trials with larger samples.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
Spotted an error in this entry? Report it →