Should I have more saunas?

Research in Finland shows that regular saunas considerably decrease the risk of heart disease in men. Yet saunas in this country often warn those with a heart condition not to use them

Saunas usually have signs warning against their use by pregnant women, children and anyone with a heart condition. Yet in Finland, where there are 1.6m saunas for a population of five million, children often try them in infancy and almost everyone has at least one a week.

Last week, a study in JAMA Internal Medicine of 2,315 middle-aged men, who had been assessed for more than 20 years, concluded that saunas reduced the risk of dying from heart disease by up to 50%, and the risk of a sudden death (defined as within an hour of an acute change in symptoms) by up to 63%. The researchers allowed for factors such as existing heart disease, age (the average was 53), blood pressure, smoking and anything else that might increase risk.

Continue reading...



from Pregnancy | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1DqrtLM