Sauna bathing is inversely associated with dementia and Alzheimer's disease in middle-aged Finnish men
Laukkanen T, Kunutsor S, Kauhanen J, Laukkanen JA
Age and ageing · 93 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Cohort study (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Clinical events such as disease or death
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Nonprofit
- Foundation for Cardiovascular Research
- University or hospital
- Itä-Suomen Yliopisto
- Nonprofit
- Sydäntutkimussäätiö
- University or hospital
- Research Institute of Public Health
- University or hospital
- Kuopio Research Institute of Exercise Medicine
- University or hospital
- University of Eastern Finland
- Nonprofit
- Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research, Helsinki
Based on 7 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2016-11-02 · Age Ageing · vol. 46 · issue 2 · pp. 245–249
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Cited
- 136 citations · more than 98% of similar papers · 7.1× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 24 works
- Access
- Free to read
- Research areas
- Thermoregulation and physiological responses · Therapeutic Uses of Natural Elements · Skin Protection and Aging
- Keywords
- Medicine, Hazard ratio, Dementia, Interquartile range, Prospective cohort study, Internal medicine, Body mass index, Population, Proportional hazards model, Alzheimer's disease, Bathing, Cohort study, Diabetes mellitus, Confidence interval, Surgery, Disease, Endocrinology, Pathology
- MeSH
- humans, dementia, alzheimer disease, steam bath, proportional hazards models, risk factors, prospective studies, age factors, sex factors, time factors, adult, middle aged, finland, male, protective factors
4 authors
From FI, GB
- Tanjaniina Laukkanen · correspondingUniversity of Eastern Finland
- Setor K. KunutsorUniversity of Bristol
- Jussi KauhanenUniversity of Eastern Finland
- Jari A. LaukkanenUniversity of Eastern Finland
Abstract
Background
there are no previous studies linking repeated heat exposure of sauna and the risk of memory diseases. We aimed to investigate whether frequency of sauna bathing is associated with risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Setting
prospective population-based study.
Methods
the frequency of sauna bathing was assessed at baseline in the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease population-based prospective cohort study of 2,315 apparently healthy men aged 42-60 years at baseline, with baseline examinations conducted between 1984 and 1989. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for dementia and Alzheimer's disease were ascertained using Cox-regression modelling with adjustment for potential confounders.
Results
during a median follow-up of 20.7 (interquartile range 18.1-22.6) years, a total of 204 and 123 diagnosed cases of dementia and Alzheimer's disease were respectively recorded. In analysis adjusted for age, alcohol consumption, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, smoking status, Type 2 diabetes, previous myocardial infarction, resting heart rate and serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, compared with men with only 1 sauna bathing session per week, the HR for dementia was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.57-1.06) for 2-3 sauna bathing sessions per week and 0.34 (95% CI: 0.16-0.71) for 4-7 sauna bathing sessions per week. The corresponding HRs for Alzheimer's disease were 0.80 (95% CI: 0.53-1.20) and 0.35 (95% CI: 0.14-0.90).
Conclusion
in this male population, moderate to high frequency of sauna bathing was associated with lowered risks of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Further studies are warranted to establish the potential mechanisms linking sauna bathing and memory diseases.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
Community trust
Loading…
How much do you trust this study's findings?
Comments
Sign in to rate, comment on or flag this study.Sign inSomething wrong here?
Flag this study if its information, labels or funding look wrong. An editor reviews every flag.
Sign in to rate, comment on or flag this study.Sign inEducational information about published research. Not medical advice, and not a recommendation to start or stop anything.