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Research Suggests That Saunas Help You Live Longer

Posted by samzenpus on from the sweat-it-out dept.

jones_supa writes A study of Finnish men suggests that frequent sauna baths may help you live longer. Previous research has suggested that saunas might improve blood vessel function and exercise capacity, or even lower blood pressure in patients with hypertension. The new study links long, hot sauna baths with more benefits, including fewer deaths from heart attacks, strokes, various heart-related conditions and other causes. The study tracked 2315 Finnish men for nearly 20 years on average. Most participants used saunas at least once weekly. Those who used them four to seven times weekly received the greatest benefits. The study published in JAMA Internal Medicine wraps up by saying that further studies are warranted to establish the potential mechanism that links sauna bathing and the aforementioned cardiovascular benefits.

14 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. Easy life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I bet if I had the time to visit the fucking spa 7 days a week I'd live a heck of a lot longer too.

    1. Re:Easy life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And when you are not exercising, you sleep better, you look better, you feel better, you are happier, and sometimes you experience high utility from your more powerful body.

      But if you don't like exercising none of this matters. Those benefits will not be enough to motivate you to hit the gym. But that's ok. There is no law that says you must seek these benefits. Anyone who would impose these values on you is not worth your time.

    2. Re:Easy life by rycamor · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Not at all the case, actually. I did the math on this once, based on the most conservative estimate of years added to live for moderate-to-intense exercise.

      For one thing, it turns out that the best exercise is of fairly short duration. You can get all the strength training you need in 1 or 2 hours a week. Add another hour a week for some moderate aerobics and, make a few other "life hacks" such as a stand-up desk, and you have every likelihood of adding at least 5 years to your life. And we're not talking about those painful last 5 years where you can't do anything, but 5 years of vitality to your productive mid-life. And a good deal more mobility and independence during your last 10 years.

      And let's just say you exercised at 3 hrs/week for 50 years, starting at age 30. By the time you are 80, you have burned up a grand total of 1 year exercising. Those other 4 years are gravy.

      How about that? the 80/20 principle at work.

    3. Re:Easy life by pepty · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And we're not talking about those painful last 5 years where you can't do anything, but 5 years of vitality to your productive mid-life.

      Cite? I'm genuinely curious. The trick is finding research that is based on intervention, not just observation. For example: studies of runners. People who are still running at age 55+ have been intensively selected by their joints over the years, many people will have experienced knee/hip/ankle/back problems well before that age and quit. How do you establish the control group: people who could keep running but choose not to? Otherwise you are conflating the benefits of not being at risk for arthritis, tendinosis, vertabrae/disk issuses, torn meniscus, etc. with the benefits of exercise.

    4. Re:Easy life by rycamor · · Score: 4, Informative

      There have been many, many studies on this matter over the past couple decades. A couple of my favorite meta-aggregators of these studies are Rogue Health and Fitness and Mark's Dailly Apple (yeah, he's a paleo advocate, but he's also a former top competitive runner, Ironman winner, and currently a sculpted buff dude in his 60s -- and his wife only a few years younger looks like a fitness model). Even more interesting, look into guys like Art Devany. He and his wife are in their mid-70s, yet fitter than most people in their 40s.

      Basically, the health promises of the 70s-80s were found to be false along several axes. The most notorious being recommendations for the low-fat, high-carb diet, but also the whole jogging/aerobics craze that started in the late 70s has been found to be empirically a failure. This is what led to the renewed interest in weight-lifting and other strength training. Long-duration, plodding exercise really isn't ideal to longevity. Running 10 miles a day used to be thought the peak of fitness, but really it results in muscle atrophy, heart strain, joint problems, etc...

      And the problem with focusing on athletes is generally that they overdo it. Athletes are people singularly focused on *winning* not on health and longevity. Athletes will gladly trade a decade of life for a short-term competitive edge. This is what Mark Sisson (Mark's Daily Apple above) found. His competitive running had him constantly sick and/or injured. He scaled his workout way back, stopped the long-distance running, and focused more on short-duration high-intensity exercise to stimulate the hormesis/recovery cycle, and specifically worked on gaining muscle mass.

      There is sort of a golden mean to exercise, recovery, muscle mass, strength, etc... And generally it looks about like the "fitness model" ideal for women and the wrestler physique for men. Muscular but not freakish. Slim but not skinny, low body fat, but not veins showing everywhere... you get the idea.

      Side note: I was flying back from SCALE 13x last week, and ended up sitting next to a cardiologist who has been doing research in these areas. His synopsis: we should all be lifting weights, and lifting *heavy*.

    5. Re:Easy life by rycamor · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yes really. Anecdotal evidence is still evidence. Consult a dictionary. You asked for citations, which I did not have at hand, but directed you to a couple sites that have lots of them. Knock yourself out.

      There is no such thing as conclusive proof in any of these areas. I tend to prefer empiricism and general pattern-recognition to theory-directed research because in the area of health it is so fraught with false positives, statistical failures, presuppositions and downright fraud due to industry influence. But if you browse through PubMed or PLOS for research in these areas, you will be hard-pressed to find negative implications for weightlifting or strength training. Positive implications abound.

    6. Re: Easy life by rycamor · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yeah, and my experience is that a) most doctors are physically lazy and have abominable fitness, and b) they are stuck on years or even decades-outdated studies of fitness and diet. And, c) they tend to favor medical and pharmaceutical intervention rather than lifestyle changes. This is a natural outcome of how their money is made and their social position in Western society. Which is why I don't have *blanket* trust in their fitness recommendations as a majority. This particular cardiologist was doing his own original research, which is why he came to these conclusions.

      I come from a family of doctors and medical people, BTW. I have no axe to grind. I just try to observe as clearly as possible.

    7. Re:Easy life by Darinbob · · Score: 4, Funny

      A sauna is like exercising, in that it's hot, uncomfortable, and you sweat too much. But the advantage is that you get to sit down and do nothing.

  2. Smoking Hot Blondes by sycodon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Especially when the sauna is filled with naked Scandinavian women.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  3. Research Suggests by AdamStarks · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That being happy and relaxed every now and then can prolong your life.

  4. Re:didn't the romans figure this out long ago? by itzly · · Score: 5, Funny

    And how many are still alive ?

  5. Re:Relaxing = Live longer? by arth1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    A sauna isn't a hot tub. At least not in Finland. It's sweating in a hot room.

    Where a real sauna is typically kept around 90C/194F (and some hotter), an American "sauna" is rarely above 60C/140F, and usually less. And they wear swim trunks and bikinis in it.
    In a real sauna, you can't wear clothes, and particularly not synthetics, because it's too hot.

    The funny thing is that a good hot sauna feels less hot. Your body goes into sauna mode, something it can never do at an American "sauna". You only feel the warmth in your lungs, or if you touch some new piece of furniture. I have often sat with teeth clattering and goose bumps in a sauna, because my ambient temperature sensors had turned off.

    Half an hour in a real sauna is something I truly miss.

  6. Skewed Results by Dorianny · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The problem with this type of studies is that is that you can never establish causality. Does X activity really extend ones lifespan on its own or is the type of person that engages in that activity simply into a healthier overall lifestyle. This particular study might even be skewed due to most doctors advising patients with chronic Cardiovascular Disease to avoid saunas. Cardiovascular Disease is the number one killer in the developed world and removing them from a population sample would tip average life expectancy higher.

  7. Re:Relaxing = Live longer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    If that were true, I've been cooked quite a couple of times :-)
    BUT - a sauna needs to be VERY dry (less than 20% humidity). Normal humidity and 90C would indeed cook you.

    BAH, humbug.

    it's quite the contrary, we (finns) throw water to stove, which boils immediately forming steam (löyly) which fills the 'sauna room' (löylyhuoneen).
    Humidity is well over 80% there in well warmed up sauna all the time and when that water is thrown (half a pint of more) it will quite rapidly go above 90% humidity.

    If you have been in a place where someone calls it sauna and it's unlike that, it's not a proper finnish sauna, not even close.