The Finns know from saunas; they invented them, after all, and most Finnish homes have one built in. Now, a team of Finnish researchers are saying that using a sauna may be good for you.
A sauna is a heated room for the purpose of making the person using it sweat. Saunas can either be dry or with steam, but Finnish saunas are usually dry. In Finland, saunas are used by the whole family together and are often a group activity. Other cultures have similar sweat lodges or hot baths.
Finnish researchers have found that men in that country who frequently used a sauna had a lower risk of fatal cardiovascular events and a low risk of mortality from all causes. This finding is from a prospective study of a group of more than 2,300 men. The men enrolled in the study in the 1980s and reported on how often they used a sauna each week and how long they usually stayed in the sauna each time.
They found that, compared with men who reported using a sauna one a week, the risk of sudden cardiac death was 22% lower for men who had two to three sauna sessions a week and 63% lower for those who had four to seven sauna sessions a week. The risks of a fatal coronary heart disease event and cardiovascular disease death were similarly reduced. For death from all causes, using a sauna two to three times a week was associated with a 24% lower risk and using a sauna four to seven times per week was associated with a 40% reduction in risk compared to one sauna session per week.
The length of time in the sauna also appears to have an effect. Risks of fatal cardiovascular events were reduced in men who took saunas lasting more than 19 minutes, but the risks were not reduced for all-cause mortality events.
These findings are an association, and do not necessarily show a cause and effect. The health effects of frequently using a sauna may be due to the relaxation and camaraderie they provide or may actually be because frequent users have more relaxation time in the first place.
