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“I recently gave a talk at the healthy heart conference in Little Rock about how sauna use may be an exercise mimetic for heart and healthspan. I started my talk with a very bold statement. I said I think in the next 10 years that sauna bathing will become part of the standard of care for the prevention and treatment for heart disease and a variety of heart conditions. Several studies have shown that frequent sauna bathing (4-7 times per week, 174F for 20 min.) is associated with a 50% lower risk for fatal heart disease, 60% lower risk for sudden cardiac death, 51% lower risk for stroke, and 46% lower risk for hypertension. Just a single sauna session has been shown to lower blood pressure, improve heart rate variability, and improve arterial compliance.
Some of the positive benefits of the sauna on heart health may have to do with similar physiological changes that also occur during physical exercise. For example, there is a 50-70% redistribution of blood flow away from the core to the skin to facilitate sweating. You start to sweat. Heart rate increases up to 150 beats per minute which correspond to moderate-intensity physical exercise. Cardiac output (which is a measure of the amount of work the heart performs in response to the body’s need for oxygen) increases by 60-70%. Immediately after the sauna blood pressure and resting heart rate are lower than baseline similar to physical activity.
I also presented some data on how sauna use may have overall longevity benefits. For example, frequent sauna use is associated with a 40% lower all-cause mortality and a 60% lower risk for Alzheimer's disease. Some of the longevity benefits may be due to the increased production of heat shock proteins. Heat shock proteins have been shown to prevent and slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, slow human muscle atrophy, and are associated with human longevity.
The effects of heat stress on longevity have also been shown in lower organisms including flies and worms, increasing their lifespans by as much as 15 percent. The mechanism of lifespan extension was also teased out in these organisms and shown to be specifically dependent on heat shock proteins. The productions of heat shock proteins in response to heat exposure is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism from lower organisms like flies and worms, to animals to humans.”
“I recently gave a talk at the healthy heart conference in Little Rock about how sauna use may be an exercise mimetic for heart and healthspan. I started my talk with a very bold statement. I said I think in the next 10 years that sauna bathing will become part of the standard of care for the prevention and treatment for heart disease and a variety of heart conditions. Several studies have shown that frequent sauna bathing (4-7 times per week, 174F for 20 min.) is associated with a 50% lower risk for fatal heart disease, 60% lower risk for sudden cardiac death, 51% lower risk for stroke, and 46% lower risk for hypertension. Just a single sauna session has been shown to lower blood pressure, improve heart rate variability, and improve arterial compliance.
Some of the positive benefits of the sauna on heart health may have to do with similar physiological changes that also occur during physical exercise. For example, there is a 50-70% redistribution of blood flow away from the core to the skin to facilitate sweating. You start to sweat. Heart rate increases up to 150 beats per minute which correspond to moderate-intensity physical exercise. Cardiac output (which is a measure of the amount of work the heart performs in response to the body’s need for oxygen) increases by 60-70%. Immediately after the sauna blood pressure and resting heart rate are lower than baseline similar to physical activity.
I also presented some data on how sauna use may have overall longevity benefits. For example, frequent sauna use is associated with a 40% lower all-cause mortality and a 60% lower risk for Alzheimer's disease. Some of the longevity benefits may be due to the increased production of heat shock proteins. Heat shock proteins have been shown to prevent and slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, slow human muscle atrophy, and are associated with human longevity.
The effects of heat stress on longevity have also been shown in lower organisms including flies and worms, increasing their lifespans by as much as 15 percent. The mechanism of lifespan extension was also teased out in these organisms and shown to be specifically dependent on heat shock proteins. The productions of heat shock proteins in response to heat exposure is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism from lower organisms like flies and worms, to animals to humans.”