Association between sauna bathing and fatal cardiovascular and all-cause mortality events.

Plain-language summary

This study set out to see whether how often a man used a sauna tracked with his chance of dying, of heart disease or of anything at all. It followed 2315 middle-aged Finnish men, aged 42 to 60 at the start, for a median of 20.7 years, recording how often and how long they used a sauna and then checking the death records. Men who used a sauna 4 to 7 times a week had lower rates of sudden cardiac death, fatal coronary heart disease, fatal cardiovascular disease and death from any cause than men who went once a week. Longer sessions, over 19 minutes, tracked with the heart outcomes but not with death from any cause.

Key findings

• Men who used a sauna 4 to 7 times a week had lower rates of sudden cardiac death, fatal coronary heart disease, fatal cardiovascular disease and death from any cause than men who went once a week.
• Sessions longer than 19 minutes tracked with lower rates of sudden cardiac death and fatal coronary heart disease, but not with death from any cause.
• This is an observational cohort. The men who used a sauna most often may differ from the men who did not in ways the study did not adjust away.