Inflammation, sauna bathing, and all-cause mortality in middle-aged and older Finnish men: a cohort study
Kunutsor SK, Jae SY, Kurl S, Kauhanen J, Laukkanen JA
European journal of epidemiology · 9 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
Based on 3 listed funder(s) and full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2022-10-18 · Eur J Epidemiol · vol. 37 · issue 12 · pp. 1225–1231
- Publisher
- Springer Science+Business Media
- Cited
- 12 citations · more than 79% of similar papers · 1.2× the field average
- References
- 52 works
- Access
- Open access (hybrid journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Thermoregulation and physiological responses · Physical Activity and Health
- Keywords
- Medicine, Bathing, Epidemiology, Cohort, Cohort study, Gerontology, Public health, Cohort effect, Demography, Environmental health, Internal medicine, Pathology
- MeSH
- humans, inflammation, c-reactive protein, baths, steam bath, risk factors, cohort studies, prospective studies, aged, middle aged, finland, male, surveys and questionnaires
5 authors
From GB, KR, FI
- Setor K. Kunutsor · correspondingLeicester General Hospital; University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust; Southmead Hospital; National Institute for Health and Care Research; University of Bristol
- Sae Young JaeUniversity of Seoul
- Sudhir KurlUniversity of Eastern Finland
- Jussi KauhanenUniversity of Eastern Finland
- Jari A. LaukkanenUniversity of Eastern Finland; Central Finland Health Care District
Abstract
Inflammation and sauna bathing are each related to the risk of all-cause mortality. The interplay between inflammation, sauna bathing and all-cause mortality is not well understood. We aimed to evaluate the separate and joint associations of inflammation (high sensitivity C-reactive protein, hsCRP) and frequency of sauna bathing (FSB) with all-cause mortality in a cohort of Caucasian men. We used the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Study cohort comprising 2575 men aged 42-61 years at baseline. Serum hsCRP was measured using an immunometric assay and sauna bathing habits were assessed by a self-administered questionnaire. High sensitivity CRP was categorized as normal and high (≤ 3 and > 3 mg/L, respectively) and FSB as low and high (defined as ≤ 2 and 3-7 sessions/week respectively). A total of 1618 deaths occurred during a median follow-up of 27.8 years. Comparing high vs normal hsCRP levels, the multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) for all-cause mortality was 1.27 (1.13-1.44). Comparing high vs low FSB, the multivariable-adjusted HR (95% CI) for all-cause mortality was 0.86 (0.76-0.97). Compared with normal hsCRP-low FSB, high hsCRP-low FSB was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality 1.28 (1.12-1.47), with no evidence of an association for high hsCRP-high FSB and all-cause mortality risk 1.06 (0.81-1.40). Positive additive and multiplicative interactions were found between hsCRP and FSB in relation to mortality. In a general Finnish male population, both hsCRP and FSB are each independently associated with all-cause mortality. However, frequent sauna baths appear to offset the increased all-cause mortality risk related to high hsCRP levels.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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