Hot-Water Footbaths to Test Heart Benefits for People With COPD
Tests hot-water footbaths for blood flow and blood pressure in adults with COPD.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- University of British Columbia
- Where
- Kelowna, CanadaSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Passive Heat Therapy for People With COPD
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 32 people, planned
- Started
- 17 Aug 2023
- Planned end
- 31 May 2026
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets a sham (pretend) treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- Passive Heat Therapy
- Sham Immersion
- Record updated
- 4 April 2025
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for non-smoking adults over 40 with stable, moderate-to-severe COPD. It tests whether hot-water footbaths improve blood flow and blood pressure.
- Age
- Over 40 years
- Sex
- All
- Disease stage
- Stable, moderate-to-severe COPD, with no flare-up for more than 6 weeks
- Earlier treatment
- Cannot be doing structured exercise training such as pulmonary rehabilitation
- Biomarker or test result
- Lung test after a bronchodilator: FEV1/FVC below the lower limit of normal and FEV1 z-score below 2.51
Main reasons for not taking part
- Smoking
- Advanced heart or brain blood vessel disease, such as heart failure, stroke or heart attack
- Uncontrolled high blood pressure (above 160/95 mmHg at rest)
- Low blood pressure (below 110/60 mmHg)
- Taking beta blockers
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 12 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Non-smoking individuals
- >40 years of age
- Stable (exacerbation free for >6 weeks), moderate-to-severe COPD (post bronchodilator FEV1/FVC <lower limit of normal and FEV1 z-score <2.51)
Who cannot take part
- Have advanced cardiac or cerebrovascular disease (i.e. a history of heart failure, previous stroke or myocardial infarction)
- Have uncontrolled hypertension (>160/95 mmHg at rest)
- Performing structured exercise training (i.e. pulmonary rehabilitation)
- Have hypotension (<110/60 mmHg)
- Are taking Beta Blockers
- Regularly (>1/week) have hot baths (>30 min) or use a hot tub or sauna
- Have resting blood pressure > 150/95 mmHg
- On supplemental oxygen for hypoxemia
- Musculoskeletal pain that limits their ability to perform stationary cycling
Where in Canada
- University of British ColumbiaKelowna, CanadaContact: Neil Eves, PhDTaking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
People with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) often develop high blood pressure and heart disease due to their sedentary lifestyle and difficulty exercising. The investigators will test if heating can mimic the health benefits of exercise by monitoring the increase in leg blood-flow using ultrasound during a 45-minute hot-water footbath. The patients will then undergo 6-weeks of hot-water footbaths to examine whether the changes to blood-flow lead to improvements in blood pressure and other indicators of heart disease risk.
The 2 groups in the trial
- Passive Heat TherapyTreatment being tested
Patients with COPD assigned to passive heat therapy will have their lower legs immersed in a circulating hot water (\~42°C) footbath for 45 min per session.
- Sham ImmersionSham treatment, for comparison
Patients with COPD assigned to the sham condition will have their lower legs immersed in a circulating thermoneutral (\~36°C) footbath for 45 min per session.
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- The Acute and Chronic Benefits of Passive Heat Therapy for People With COPD
- Plain-language title
- Hot-Water Footbaths to Test Heart Benefits for People With COPDGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 12 November 2026.
- Record updated
- 4 April 2025