Regular use of sauna associated with lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease

Regular use of a sauna is badociated with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease in men and women aged 50 and older, according to a study published in the open-access journal BMC Medicine.

Researchers from the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, found that CVD mortality among people using a sauna four to seven times a week was 2.7 fatal events CVM per 1,000 person-years compared to 10.1 events per 1,000 person-years. those who used a sauna once a week. Person years are the total number of years during which participants stayed in the study. This is a way to measure the number of new events in the study population over a given period, with fewer events indicating a lower risk.

Professor Jari Laukkanen, the corresponding author, said: "An important discovery of this study is that more regular use of the sauna is badociated with a lower risk of CVD death among women in the past. middle to older age, as well as in men, especially in men. "

Professor Laukkanen continued, "There are several reasons why using the sauna can reduce the risk of death from CVD. Our research team has already shown in previous studies that a high usage of the sauna was badociated with low blood pressure, an increase in heart rate equal to that seen in low to moderate intensity exercise. "

The incidence (ie the number of new cases) of CVD mortality during the study period was also found to decrease with the increase of the week spent in the sauna. . For those who spent more than 45 minutes a week in the sauna, the incidence was 5.1 per 1,000 year-years, compared with 9.6% for those who spent less than 15 minutes a week in the sauna.

The authors evaluated the use of a sauna with the help of a self-reported questionnaire and verified deaths due to cardiovascular causes as compared to hospital records. and health services, death certificates, as well as forensic reports of 1,688 participants living in and around Kuopio. At the beginning of the study, participants were on average 63 years old and 51.4% were women. Data from this prospective study were collected between 1998 and 2015 and the average duration of follow-up was 15 years.

The authors cautioned that all patients whose data were badyzed in this study came from one region. It is therefore necessary to continue the research to understand if the results apply to other populations. The observational nature of the study does not allow conclusions to be drawn about the causes and effects.