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Frequent sauna use associated with reduced risk for CV-related, all-cause mortality in men
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In a study of middle-aged men, increased frequency of sauna bathing was associated with reduced risk for sudden cardiac death, fatal CHD, fatal CVD and all-cause mortality.
According to the study background, the benefits of sauna bathing on hemodynamic function were known, but the benefits on CV-related mortality were not.
Researchers enrolled 2,315 men from eastern Finland aged 42 to 60 years in a prospective cohort study between March 1984 and December 1989. Participants were stratified according to whether they reported having a sauna session once per week (n=601), two or three times per week (n=1,513) or four to seven times per week (n=201). Median follow-up was 20.7 years.
During the study period, there were 190 sudden cardiac deaths, 281 fatal CHDs, 407 fatal CVDs and 929 all-cause mortality events, Jari A. Laukkanen, MD, PhD, and colleagues wrote.
According to the researchers, the percentages of the outcomes by group were as follows:
- Sudden cardiac death: one sauna per week, 10.1%; two or three saunas per week, 7.8%, four to seven saunas per week, 5%.
- Fatal CHD: one sauna per week, 14.9%; two or three saunas per week, 11.5%, four to seven saunas per week, 8.5%.
- Fatal CVD: one sauna per week, 22.3%; two or three saunas per week, 16.4%, four to seven saunas per week, 12%.
- All-cause mortality: one sauna per week, 49.1%; two or three saunas per week, 37.8%, four to seven saunas per week, 30.8%.
Risk reduction observed
When Laukkanen, from the Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition at the University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland, and colleagues adjusted for CVD risk factors, they found that compared with men with one sauna per week, men with two or three saunas per week had a trend toward reduced risk for sudden cardiac death (HR = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.57-1.07) and men with four to seven saunas per week had reduced risk for sudden cardiac death (HR = 0.37; 95% CI, 0.18-0.75; P for trend = .005).
They observed similar associations between increased frequency of sauna bathing and reduced risk for fatal CHD, fatal CVD and all-cause mortality (P for trend for all ≤ .005).
The researchers also found that longer duration of saunas were associated with reduced risk for sudden cardiac death (P for trend = .002). Compared with men averaging fewer than 11 minutes per sauna, those averaging 11 to 19 minutes had a HR for sudden cardiac death of 0.93 (95% CI, 0.67-1.28) and those averaging more than 19 minutes had a HR of 0.48 (95% CI, 0.31-0.75).
They observed similar inverse associations for fatal CHD and fatal CVD (P for trend for both ≤ .03), but not for all-cause mortality.
“Heart rate may increase up to 100/min during moderate sauna bathing sessions and up to 150/min during more intense warm sauna bathing, corresponding to low- and moderate-intensity physical exercise training,” Laukkanen and colleagues wrote. “Repeated sauna treatment improves endothelial function in patients with CHD risk factors and [HF], suggesting a preventive role of thermal therapy for endothelium … Our results suggest that sauna bathing is a recommendable health habit, although further studies are needed to confirm our results in different population settings.”
Rita F. Redberg
Time well spent
In an editor’s note, Rita F. Redberg, MD, MSc, chief editor of JAMA Internal Medicine, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and a member of the Cardiology Today Editorial Board, wrote that “although we do not know why the men who took saunas more frequently had greater longevity (whether it is the time spent in the hot room, the relaxation time, the leisure of a life that allows for more relaxation time or the camaraderie of the sauna), clearly time spent in the sauna is time well spent.”
Disclosure: The researchers and Redberg report no relevant financial disclosures.
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