Sauna to Reduce Inflammation

Kunutsor SK, Jae SY, Kurl S, Kauhanen J, Laukkanen JA. Inflammation, sauna bathing, and all-cause mortality in middle-aged and older Finnish men: a cohort study. Eur J Epidemiol. 2022;37(12):1225-1231. doi:10.1007/s10654-022-00926-w

Reviewed by Dr. Tanner Tunsky

Summarized Review Conclusions

Mortality, or death rate, is the most common and basic way to measure the health of a population. Many things can contribute to mortality. According to the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Study, the top five risk factors for global deaths were high blood pressure, smoking, poor diet, high blood sugar, and air pollution. While many studies have shown a clear link between individual health risks and death, fewer studies have looked at how these risk factors together affect overall mortality.

Inflammation is known to play a role in many health problems, both short-term and long-term, as well as in diseases affecting the blood vessels and other parts of the body. So, it’s not surprising that high levels of inflammation markers like C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) are linked to a higher risk of death from various causes. Sauna bathing, which has been a part of Finnish culture for thousands of years, is mostly done for relaxation. Recently, more evidence is showing that regular sauna use may have health benefits.

“In this general population-based study of middle-aged to older Finnish men, high levels of hsCRP and high FSB were independently associated with an increased and decreased risk of all-cause mortality, respectively.”

“Rather, elevated CRP has been described as a marker of hidden, potentially serious chronic inflammatory disease.”

“The mechanistic pathways postulated to underlie the association between frequent passive heat exposure (eg, regular sauna bathing) and decreased risk of death include reduction in blood pressure; improvement in endothelial function; reduction in oxidative stress; beneficial modulation of the autonomic nervous system and in levels of circulating cardiovascular risk factors such as natriuretic peptides; improved arterial stiffness; decreased intima media thickness; and substantial improvement in cardiovascular function.”

Introduction to the Research

This research was done to assess the health benefits of sauna use. Dry and wet sauna has been used across the globe for thousands of years, and believe that any practice that has been around for this long has other merit behind it, beyond just tradition. The researchers specifically wanted to look at how regular sauna use impacts inflammation at a systemic level. With chronic inflammation being linked to chronic health conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease, this study aims to provide information regarding how regular sauna use can positively impact inflammation, which in turn could lead to less prevalence of these chronic health conditions worldwide.

Research Methodology

Participants utilized for this analysis were part of the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease (KIHD) cohort, an ongoing population-based prospective study comprising a representative sample of men aged 42–61 year recruited from Kuopio or its surrounding rural communities in eastern Finland. The study design, recruitment and assessment methods have been described in previous reports [11, 12]. Briefly, 2682 eligible men agreed to participate in the study and underwent screening and baseline examinations between March 1984 and December 1989. In the current analysis, we excluded men with missing data on exposures and covariates (n = 107), leaving 2575 men with complete data on hsCRP, sauna bathing habits, covariates and all-cause mortality outcomes. The Research Ethics Committee of the University of Eastern Finland approved the study protocol and written informed consent was obtained from all participants. The investigation was conducted in accordance with the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and its future amendments.

Research Findings

In conclusion, both hsCRP and FSB are each independently associated with all-cause mortality risk in a general Finnish male population. There is also an interplay between inflammation, sauna bathing, and all-cause mortality –the current study shows interactive effects of inflammation and sauna bathing on the risk of mortality and frequent sauna baths appear to offset the increased all-cause mortality risk related to high hsCRP levels.

Research References

As always with these reviews, these are my takeaways from the article and I encourage you to read the article in its entirety. The references used in this article by the authors of this article are listed here.

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