Analysis:
Many people love to soak in hot springs, and people think that acidic hot spring water has an auxiliary effect on hypertension, gastric ulcer and joint rheumatism. Japanese scientists have provided a scientific basis for the spread of experience among the people by studying the mechanism of hot spring water acting on the body of experimental mice. According to the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun website reported on the 5th, Professor Okayama Kenji of Nagoya City University. Sensory nerve cells were extracted from experimental mice, and these cells were cultured with diluted acidic hot spring water. The researchers found that these cells can gradually secrete protein's calcitonin gene-related peptide.
Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is one of the most powerful vasodilators known at present. Besides lowering blood pressure, it can also promote the secretion of insulin-like growth factor-1, inhibit inflammation and promote wound healing.
In the experiment, the researchers also soaked the experimental mice in acidic hot spring water at 40 degrees Celsius, and measured the concentration of "insulin-like growth factor-1" in their skin, blood and stomach tissues five minutes later. The results showed that the amount of "insulin-like growth factor-1" in the experimental mice soaked in hot springs was 3 to 8 times that in the normal state. If the experimental rats suffering from gastric ulcer due to mental stress are soaked in hot springs, the ulcer area will be greatly reduced.
Okayama Kenji believes that the efficacy of hot springs seems to be because the heat and acidity it brings are transmitted to the brain and parasympathetic nerves, which increases the substances such as "insulin-like growth factor-1" in the body and improves the self-healing ability of the body.