Hydrotherapy for OA of the hip has rarely been evaluated in controlled studies. Forty-seven patients with OA of the hip were followed for 18 weeks. Patients were randomly allocated either to a regimen of home exercises or to twice weekly hydrotherapy for 6 weeks in addition to home exercises. There was an improvement seen in both subjective and objective measures in both groups with treatment. There was no significant difference between the two groups. Response to treatment appeared independent of age, sex and radiological severity. We conclude that for most patients, a carefully graded and supervised regimen of home exercises is beneficial and there is little benefit in adding hydrotherapy to this regimen.

Fifty-eight normal young male human subjects were exposed for 4 h to comfortable conditions (22 degrees C, 40% rh) or to heat stress conditions (30 degrees C, 60% rh) with or without exercise. Exercise amounted to two 15-min sessions of treadmill walking at 6.7 km X h-1 (4 mph) with a 10% grade beginning at 105 and 225 min after entry into the chamber. Measurements of 15 pulmonary function variables were made 1) before entry into the chamber, 2) 5 min after the first exercise period, 3) 5 min after the second exercise period, and 4) 24 h after the end of the exposure period. The exercise, estimated to use about two-thirds of the subjects' maximum oxygen intake, produced no statistically significant (P less than 0.01) changes in pulmonary function parameters. Heat stress produced significant changes in forced vital capacity, and possibly significant interactions were observed in peak expiratory flow and forced expiratory flow at 25% of vital capacity. Effects of the two factors appeared to be additive. Changes with exercise and heat stress were associated with reversal of a progressive decrease of airway resistance seen in subjects at rest in a comfortable environment.