Can Taking Frequent Sauna Baths Decrease Dementia Risk?

A new study finds that frequent sauna bathing could reduce the risk of developing dementia.

Noting that the link between sauna bathing and dementia risk had not been previously assessed, researchers from the University of Eastern Finland studied the effects of sauna bathing on the risk of Alzheimer disease as well as other forms of dementia.
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The team evaluated 2315 men, ranging in age from 42 to 60 years old, living in the eastern region of Finland. Participants in the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD) were divided into 3 groups based on their sauna-bathing habits. One group consisted of individuals taking a sauna once a week. Another included those taking a sauna 2-to-3 times a week, while a third group was comprised of men taking a sauna between 4 and 7 times weekly. Study participants were followed for a 20-year period.

Overall, the authors saw participants' risk of dementia decreasing when they took saunas more frequently. For example, men in the group taking a sauna bath between 4 and 7 times a week were found to be at a 66% lower risk of developing dementia. Participants in the group taking 4 to 7 sauna baths weekly were also found to be at 65% lower risk of developing Alzheimer disease, according to the researchers.

"Physical exercise and sauna bathing is a perfect combination [of] exercise and relaxation," said study co-author Jari Laukkanen, MD, PhD, a cardiologist and faculty member at the University of Eastern Finland, Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition. "Sauna bathing will [provide] an additional, very positive tool in the primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases and dementia."

—Mark McGraw

Reference

Laukkanen T, Kunutsor S, Kauhanen J, Laukkanen JA. Sauna bathing is inversely associated with dementia and Alzheimer's disease in middle-aged Finnish men [published online December 7, 2016]. Age and Ageing. doi:10.1093/ageing/afw212.