The results relating to frequent sauna bathing and dementia relate to men who took a sauna between four and seven times per week over a prolonged period of time. Men in this group were found to be 66 percent less likely to be diagnosed with dementia in relation to men who only took a sauna once in a week.
The study represented the first time that an association between sauna bathing and dementia risk had been examined and the research was led by the University of Eastern Finland. A sauna or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions,; the aim of the steam and high heat is to make the bathers perspire. The health benefits of a sauna are the subject of recurrent research and there are some indications that sauna can benefit chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and rheumatoid arthritis.
The connection between sauna bathing on the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (together with other types of dementia) was based on data drawn from the Finnish Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. This study used data relating to some 2,000 middle-aged men who reside in the eastern part of Finland.
Data relating to the sauna-bathing habits of the men was collected and the data was distributed into three sets: those taking a sauna once a week, those taking a sauna two to three times a week, and those taking a sauna four to seven times a week. When other health data was correlated it was found that the more frequently saunas were taken, then the lower the risk was of dementia. The greatest effect was the 66 percent difference high sauna use and low sauna use. This infers that sauna bathing may protect both the heart and memory to some extent via similar, still poorly known mechanisms.
The new research has been published in the journal Age and Ageing, with the paper titled “Sauna bathing is inversely associated with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in middle-aged Finnish men.”
