Sauna use linked to longer life, fewer fatal heart problems

I'm not buying that, "don't sweat it" crap, it's a conspiracy I tell ya!

Researchers from the University of Eastern Finland tracked 2,300 middle-aged men for an average of 20 years. They categorized the men into three groups according to how often they used a sauna each week. The men spent an average of 14 minutes per visit baking in 175° F heat. Over the course of the study, 49% of men who went to a sauna once a week died, compared with 38% of those who went two to three times a week and just 31% of those who went four to seven times a week. Frequent visits to a sauna were also associated with lower death rates from cardiovascular disease and stroke.

The results don’t surprise Dr. Thomas H. Lee, a cardiologist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital and founding editor of the Harvard Heart Letter. “The cardiovascular effects of sauna have been well documented in the past. It lowers blood pressure, and there is every reason to believe that its effects are good for blood vessels,” says Dr. Lee.

Earlier studies have shown that regular sauna bathing may benefit people with risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes. It’s generally safe and likely beneficial for people with mild heart failure, but may not be so hot for those with unstable angina or a recent heart attack.

Source

Too lazy to exercise? There's good news!

In fact, Finns may spend even more time in the sauna than they do exercising. While most Finns visit a sauna at least once a week, only about half of Finnish men and a third of Finnish women between 18 and 65 meet the World Health Organization exercise guidelines, which recommend the equivalent of 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity five days a week. The Finnish researchers suggest that saunas may provide some cardiovascular conditioning because the high temperatures can drive heart rates to levels often achieved by moderate-intensity physical exercise.

Heck, my heartrate goes through the roof when I'm in a super hot tub for half an hour, but that's not all it's good for.

In individuals with higher exposure or body burden, sweat generally exceeded plasma or urine concentrations, and dermal could match or surpass urinary daily excretion. Arsenic dermal excretion was severalfold higher in arsenic-exposed individuals than in unexposed controls. Cadmium was more concentrated in sweat than in blood plasma. Sweat lead was associated with high-molecular-weight molecules, and in an interventional study, levels were higher with endurance compared with intensive exercise. Mercury levels normalized with repeated saunas in a case report. Sweating deserves consideration for toxic element detoxification. Research including appropriately sized trials is needed to establish safe, effective therapeutic protocols.

Source

You know it works for those plastics and petrochemicals in general

BPA was found to differing degrees in each of blood, urine, and sweat. In 16 of 20 participants, BPA was identified in sweat, even in some individuals with no BPA detected in their serum or urine samples. Conclusions. Biomonitoring of BPA through blood and/or urine testing may underestimate the total body burden of this potential toxicant. Sweat analysis should be considered as an additional method for monitoring bioaccumulation of BPA in humans. Induced sweating appears to be a potential method for elimination of BPA.

Source

&&

Results. Some parent phthalates as well as their metabolites were excreted into sweat. All patients had MEHP (mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate) in their blood, sweat, and urine samples, suggesting widespread phthalate exposure. In several individuals, DEHP (di (2-ethylhexl) phthalate) was found in sweat but not in serum, suggesting the possibility of phthalate retention and bioaccumulation. On average, MEHP concentration in sweat was more than twice as high as urine levels.

Source

I think we should all sweat it, weekly to daily. I either get a hardcore workout else redden my body under the water daily, sometimes both the same day. Towel is soaking.

a reply to: ringdingdong

Who the heck has time to go to a sauna 7 days a week...perhaps they are living a much better lifestyle given that they have some much free time..I'm wondering what their socioeconomic status was....compared to the person going one day a week...

originally posted by: chrismarco
a reply to: ringdingdong

Who the heck has time to go to a sauna 7 days a week...perhaps they are living a much better lifestyle given that they have some much free time..I'm wondering what their socioeconomic status was....compared to the person going one day a week...

Well, if nearly every house has it's own (electric) sauna, it does not really take so much time to fire it up and relax for a while.

Here, in the backwoods of finland I go to sauna for about 3-4 times a week only, because I have to chop the woods and carry the water from the well to sauna. It's half past 6am now, and I'm thinking maybe I should go to morning-sauna.. It even snowed yesterday, so I'll have a change to do naked-rolling in snow.

What does the OP's original source doesn't tell You, is that You HAVE TO roll around naked in snow to get the full advantage against heart -and other problems. (Ice swimming works too).



(Edit) It's on, guys: postimg.org...

originally posted by: chrismarco
a reply to: ringdingdong

Who the heck has time to go to a sauna 7 days a week...perhaps they are living a much better lifestyle given that they have some much free time..I'm wondering what their socioeconomic status was....compared to the person going one day a week...

probably everyone with a house: www.google.com...

www.sciencedaily.com...

Heat shock proteins (HSP) are a group of proteins the expression of which is increased when the cells are exposed to elevated temperatures.

Heat and cold shock proteins.

a reply to: chrismarco

For now I soak and sweat in a hot tub. Next year after my 5 bedroom house is built I'll be enjoying the sauna on most days. It doesn't take much time or resources.

a reply to: Starpilot80

That's interesting, I'll often go for a walk outside if it's cold enough to cool down after the soak. I also walk around in shorts and short shirt in the 40s and 50s here regularly. That's rather eccentric for Texans, but I never shiver. It's as if a furnace turns on when I enter such conditions from a (brown fat?) adaptation.

a reply to: ringdingdong

The day they say whiskey does the same thing - I start to believe these studies.

originally posted by: chrismarco
Who the heck has time to go to a sauna 7 days a week...perhaps they are living a much better lifestyle given that they have some much free time..I'm wondering what their socioeconomic status was....compared to the person going one day a week...

In the USA, cost of access is the main issue (like everything else here of course!), as opposed to the time one spends sitting in a Sauna, per week. In the USA, only high end Gyms, like Equinox and Country Clubs have quality Sauna's and Steam Room, those that get really hot, on par with the types that are widely available to the public in Europe. Also in Europe, Sauna's and Steam Rooms can be accessed as a stand alone service, but in the USA a person needs to pay for a $100+ gym membership or $10,000 a year country club membership to gain access a good Sauna and Steam Room. In the USA you simply cannot pay only for stand alone Sauna/Steam Room access, a person needs to buy and maintain a full gym membership, etc.