There is similar study that showed a positive correlation between longevity and sauna use. Dr. Rhonda Patrick made the following comments its defense which I have pasted below.<p>Most of the dismissing comments have a few common themes...<p>1.) They underestimate the prevalence of sauna use in Finnish culture, where the study was conducted. Finland has a population of around 5 million people, but has around 3 million saunas. Sauna access is ubiquitous and not strictly a marker for socioeconomic status.<p>2.) They disregard the fact that physical activity was adjusted for. In other words, sauna use wasn't simply correlated to overall physical activity in this case.<p>3.) They assume that because sauna use is correlated with longevity (after variables are adjusted for) that we should expect Finnish folk to live as long as the trees. In actual fact, while sauna use is probably a healthy habit... the Finnish have habits that undermine their health just like any other country.<p>4.) They forget about the evidence in lower organisms. In flies and worms heat stress (exposing them to a 30 min. heat chamber just one time) has been shown to boost lifespan by up to 15%. This effect was shown mediated by heat shock proteins (hsps), which are very robustly increased in humans during sauna use. I don't know for sure that the Finnish sauna longevity study has anything to do with an effect from HSPs... but it stands to reason! The fact that lifespan extension was demonstrated in two very different lower organisms also means that this effect is highly evolutionarily conserved.<p>5.) They also tend to forget that humans that have a gene variant in heat shock protein 70 that makes it active all the time have a significant increase chance of living to be a centenarian (at least 100 years old).<p>For those interested, here's the sauna longevity study in question...
<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25705824" rel="nofollow">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25705824</a>
As a Finnish person this question makes no sense. Everybody goes to the sauna. The young, old, babies, the sick as well. I go to the sauna even with fever as it feels good with the chills.
I wonder if taking a hot bath can have the same effect. I've been taking them more frequently recently and I've definitely noticed that my heart rate goes up (and that I smell a bit different than after taking a shower, presumably because I'm sweating more). I've been debating whether or not it's actually a healthy thing to be doing, but it's definitely relaxing and makes you fall asleep faster at night as it's getting colder in the winter.
I wonder if the frequency of going to the Sauna was tied to the frequency of going to gym to workout? Here in Seattle that is basically the only place you can go to find a sauna.
Possibly related to dilating capillaries? Seems like my lasting impression every time I go into a sauna is that I get completely flushed, and that generally feels good. Maybe it proxies some of the benefits of cardio exercise?
This whole text is such a prime example of what's wrong with science reporting.<p>In the very first sentence a causal relationship is claimed ("Frequent sauna bathing can reduce the risk of dementia"). Yet the whole article doesn't live up to that claim, because it is very clear that the study purely relies on observational data and thus may very well just have found a confounder. However it doesn't even bother to mention or discuss that limitation.
I saw the headline and thought: This is the best news ever! I love saunas, but I don't even come close to once a week. It's a special treat for us that we do maybe once every few months. To do it daily or weekly, it needs to be part of your routine, and really close to home.<p>But if the Finns really sauna this much more often than anyone else, then there should also be a noticeable difference in dementia between Finnish people and anyone else.
Seems like you could do a great confirmation study with participants in Bikram / hot yoga where the temps are 105F for 90 mins with ~50% humidity.<p>I'm going to go out on a limb and say the sauna cohort and the Bikram cohort are two extremely different sets of individuals with lots of different behaviors, so if the same effect was found in regular Bikram yogis a lot of variables might be able to be eliminated.
I live in the south and even though it gets hot and humid in the summer, it does not sound like it's hot enough to shock like this study proposes. I mostly enjoy the heat and humidity. When I lived out west in a much drier climate, my gym had a sauna that I used almost every day.
Is it possible that those undertaking frequent sauna bathing have overall healthier life habits? They might exercise more, eat better and sleep better than those who do not
protects? thats not proven, this studies implies onlY correlation and it could still be very much a random result or there coulf be multiple factord not taken in consideration
I just did a little research into the benefits of sauna use. I found a Reuters article published in 2015 which said, "men who spent time in a sauna seven times a week were less likely to die of heart problems or to die at all" [0].<p>So good news everbody: If you use a sauna seven times a week, there's a chance you could become immortal.<p>[0] <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-heart-health-saunas-idUSKBN0LR1LP20150223" rel="nofollow">http://www.reuters.com/article/us-heart-health-saunas-idUSKB...</a>
All this is concluding is that of recreational activities spending time in the sauna is less harmful than the likely alternative ways people would fill that time.