Regular sauna treatment protects against death from cardiovascular diseases

How do sauna visits affect your health??

If you go to the sauna more often, it will have a positive effect on your health. Researchers have now found that regular sauna sessions in humans contribute to a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Jyväskylä have found in their recent research that regular weekly sauna visits are less likely to lead to dying of cardiovascular disease at an early stage. The physicians published the results of their study in the English language journal "BMC Medicine".

When people regularly go to the sauna, it leads to relaxation for the mind and body. Physicians found that sauna visits can also protect against premature death from cardiovascular disease. (Image: nd3000 / fotolia.com)

How many times should I go to the sauna during the week??

A regular sauna visit by men and women over the age of 50 years is associated with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, experts explain. Visiting a sauna four to seven times a week reduces the chance of death from cardiovascular disease to 2.7 cases per 1,000 person-years. On the other hand, when people only use a sauna once a week, 10.1 deaths per 1,000 person-years occur. So-called person-years refer to the total number of years the participants took part in the study, explain the scientists. In this way, the number of new events in the study population can be measured over a certain period of time, with a smaller number of events indicating a lower risk.

Why protect sauna visits?

"An important finding of this research is that a more regular sauna visit is associated with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease in older women and men," said study author Professor Jari Laukkanen of the University of Eastern Finland in a press release. Previous population studies have been carried out mainly on men.

There are several possible reasons why using a sauna reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, the expert continues. The research team had already shown in previous studies that high sauna use is associated with lower blood pressure. In addition, it is known that the use of the sauna causes an increase in heart rate, which corresponds to a physical effort with low to medium intensity, adds Professor Laukkanen.

How was the data collected??

It was also found that the incidence of cardiovascular disease mortality during the study period decreased as the length of stay in the sauna per week increased. For those who spent more than 45 minutes a week in the sauna, the incidence was 5.1 per 1,000 person-years, compared to 9.6 when people spent less than 15 minutes a week in the sauna altogether. The authors evaluated the use of the sauna on the basis of a self-filled questionnaire and verified deaths from cardiovascular causes based on hospital and hospital records, death certificates and medical reports for 1,688 subjects.

Further research is needed

At the beginning of the study, the participants were on average 63 years old and 51.4 percent were women. Data for this prospective study were collected between 1998 and 2015, and the mean follow-up was 15 years. The authors point out that all patients whose data were analyzed in this study were from the same region. Therefore, further research is needed to verify that the results are also applicable to populations of other regions. (As)