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Taking frequent hot saunas can be good for the heart, a study published online in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests.
The risk of dying from sudden cardiac arrest, heart disease and cardiovascular disease was up to 63% lower in middle-aged men who took as many as seven saunas a week compared with once-a-week bathers, the study found. Sauna bathing for 20 minutes or longer was also associated with a reduced risk of dying.
Sitting in a hot sauna increases heart rate and blood circulation, resulting in cardiovascular changes comparable to the training effects of low-to-moderate physical exercise, the study suggests. The saunas in this study were 174-degrees Fahrenheit, on average, with low humidity.
The men were divided into three groups based on their weekly sauna use and bathing time.
Over an average 19 years of follow-up, 190 men died from sudden cardiac arrest, 281 from heart disease, and 407 from cardiovascular disease. Of those who died suddenly, 5% took four to seven saunas a week compared with 10% who took only one sauna. The death rate from heart disease and cardiovascular disease was 9% and 12%, respectively, among the most frequent sauna bathers compared with 15% and 22% among once-a-week bathers. Frequent bathers also had fewer deaths from other causes.
Sauna bathing 20 minutes or more reduced the risk of dying by 52% compared with bathing fewer than 11 minutes, the analysis showed.
Caveat: The study didn't include women. The results may not apply to steam rooms, hot tubs and saunas that operate at lower temperatures than a typical Finnish sauna and don't permit pouring water on the rocks, researchers said.
