Research suggests that saunas are good

Thursday, November 29, 2018 (HealthDay News) – Do you like spending time in the local sauna? Your heart can love it too.

A new study in Finland, a country that loves saunas, suggests that for people aged 50 and over, saunas can reduce the risk of death from heart disease.

Specifically, only 5% of Finns participating in the study and having spent more than 45 minutes in a sauna each week died of heart disease during the 15-year study period, against 10% of those who spent less than 15 minutes a week in the saunas. the researchers said.

Of course, the study can not prove any cause-and-effect relationship – it is possible that sauna enthusiasts may have other heart healthy habits that could explain the results.

Nevertheless, "there are several possible reasons why sauna use can reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease," said co-author of the study, Jari Laukkanen, head of cardiology at the University of California. University of Eastern Finland. His team published its findings on November 28 in the newspaper BMC Medicine.

"Our research team has shown in previous studies that high sauna use was associated with low blood pressure," he said in a press release. "In addition, the use of the sauna is known to trigger an increase in heart rate equal to that seen in low to moderate intensity exercise."

An American expert who examined the results agreed that heat could often have a therapeutic effect on the human body, but that the sauna experience might be slightly different in America.

"The biggest advantage [in the study] has been observed in people taking between 4 and 7 saunas a week, a frequency that Americans probably will not reach, "said Dr. Cindy Grines, director of the cardiology department at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York.

"In addition, this study used dry heat, and it is unclear whether the results are similar with steam baths or spas," she said.

The Laukkanen team agreed that, since the data came from one region of Finland, the findings might not apply to other populations.

The study is based on data from nearly 1,700 Finnish men and women. Participants were asked about their use of saunas and these data were compared to deaths from cardiovascular disease. The study data was collected between 1998 and 2015 and the average follow-up was 15 years.

The frequency of use of the sauna seemed related to heart health. Of those who used a sauna four to seven times a week, 3% died from heart disease over 15 years, but this number rose to 10% for those who did not use the sauna. sauna once a week, according to the study.

Dr. David Friedman is Chief of Heart Failure Services at the Valley Island Jewish Hospital on Long Island, in Valley Stream, New York State. It is difficult to draw firm conclusions from the study, but the results suggest that the use of the sauna "could be a useful additional strategy" for heart health, with improved nutrition and more exercise.

But another cardiologist pointed out that Americans should not start thinking of saunas as substitutes for exercise.

"Moderate-to-high intensity exercises have a cardioprotective effect," said Dr. Satjit Bhusri, a doctor at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. New discoveries do not necessarily mean that "everyone should spend the day at the spa [instead]," he said.

More information

For more information on cardiovascular disease, visit the American Heart Association.