Saunas Are Healthy

People throughout the world maintain a broad range of methods to cleanse a person’s body and mind. They are rooted very deeply in human culture worldwide. In modern America particularly, these practices are far too neglected. We need them as much or even more than other people. Sauna is one example of this tradition. Some of them are focused more on physical health, whereas others, like Native American sweat lodges are core elements of a spiritual practice You are probably familiar with another cleansing tradition, nose rinses, a practice growing out of Ayurvedic medicine. In Finland, sauna is so deeply engrained in the culture that there are as many saunas in Finland as there are households. To the Finns sauna has its own folk spiritual elementals, such as its own elf, the saunatonttu. The word Finns use for the steam in the sauna is also used for soul, spirit and breath. Misguided Medical Advice Medical doctors, in this country at least, have been warning people about the dangers of saunas. In particular, heart patients have been warned to stay out of saunas. It turns out that advice was 180 degrees wrong. Taking saunas is good for us, especially those with heart disease. For example, we know that sauna improves the performance of the heart itself as well as the health of heart muscle. Sauna use reduces serious heart irregularities in patients who have heart failure. Saunas also lower blood pressure and speed up recovery from heart attacks. As far as sauna’s benefit and safety for people with heart disease, there is a single exception. People with one specific heart valve problem - narrowing of the aortic valve, should be very cautious or maybe even avoid saunas. An Important New Study We know much more from a brand new study coming out of, where else, Finland. Investigators followed over 2,300 middle aged Finnish males for two decades to learn how sauna use impacted death rates, especially those due to heart disease. Because Finns sauna so much, the control group only saunaed once a week. The midrange group saunaed two or three times weekly and the high range group used the sauna at least four times a week. Each sauna bath ranged from 2 minutes to 90 minutes, averaging just over 14 minutes. Average sauna temperature was 175 degrees. First, they looked at sudden cardiac death (SCD) and found that, compared to once a week, those who saunaed 2-3/week had a 22% lower chance of sudden cardiac death. The four or more...