If you like going to the sauna, then you’d be happy to know that it’s lowering your risks of having a stroke. A new international study has associated frequent sauna sessions with lower risks of stroke. Researchers found that people that took a sauna 4-7 times a week lowered their risks of a stroke by 61%, compared to those that went to a sauna only once a week.
Stroke is a major cause of disability worldwide. Researchers from the Universities of Eastern Finland, Bristol, Leicester, Emory, Cambridge, and Innsbruck have teamed up to conduct a large-scale study on this issue. Their findings have been published in the journal Neurology.
Frequent Sauna Baths Have Multiple Health Benefits
Lead researcher of the study, Dr. Setor Kunutsor (Bristol Medical School) explains:
“The findings are very significant and highlight the multiple health benefits of taking frequent sauna baths.”
He and his team connect sauna bathing with reducing stroke risks by reducing blood pressure, stimulation of the immune system, and improvements in both the nervous system and cardiovascular function.
Researchers have 1,628 men and women of ages between 53-74 that live in the eastern part of Finland. The participants were split into three groups. The first group took sauna once a week, the second group took sauna 2-3 times a week and the third group took a sauna for 4-7 times a week.
The conclusions were that the more people took frequent saunas, the lower the risk of a stroke was.
The group that took 2-3 sauna sessions in a week lowered the risk of a stroke by 14% compared to the ones that took one sauna session per week. Those that went 4-7 times per week to sauna lowered their risk of stroke by 61%.
Result Were Similar in People with Increased Risk Factors of a Stroke
Results were the same in people that had increased risk factors of a stroke like alcohol consumption, age, body mass index, blood lipids sex, diabetes, physical activity and socio-economic status.
These results are based on the study called Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor (KIHD), which investigates the risk factors for different diseases common in middle-aged men (from eastern Finland) that have a high rate of coronary heart disease.
KIHD study at the University of Eastern Finland has previously published a study that showed that regular sauna bathing reduced the risk of cardiovascular mortality.
Doris’s passion for writing started to take shape in college where she was editor-in-chief of the college newspaper. Even though she ended up working in IT for more than 7 years, she’s now back to what he always enjoyed doing. With a true passion for technology, Doris mostly covers tech-related topics.