Having a sauna can save your life, say Finnish researchers

A sauna does more than build up a sweat. It can be a lifesaver, research says. Middle-aged men who take frequent saunas are less likely to die from heart conditions than those who do not, scientists have found.

Those who visited saunas most often — up to once every day — experienced the greatest benefit. Even compared with men who took one sauna a week, their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease was 50% lower.

More time spent sweating it out in each sauna session also appeared to be protective. The study was conducted among 2,315 men aged 42 to 60 from eastern Finland, where there is a strong sauna tradition.

Researchers followed their progress for 21 years comparing death rates between those who went to the sauna once a week and others who made more frequent visits.

During the follow-up period they recorded 190 sudden cardiac deaths, 281 fatal cases of coronary heart disease, 407 deaths from cardiovascular disease and 929 deaths from “all causes”.

The risk of sudden cardiac death was 22% lower for men who had two to three sauna sessions per week and 63% lower for those visiting four to seven times.

The research, led by Jari Laukkanen, from the University of Eastern Finland at Kuopio, is reported online in the journal Jama Internal Medicine.