A sauna is an enclosed room used for a steam bath. (Image courtesy of Hotel Der Oeschberghof, flickr.com)
Men who routinely take saunas are at less risk of dying from sudden cardiac death and other fatal cardiovascular diseases a new study shows.
Researchers followed a group of 2,315 middle-aged men (42 to 60 years old) in Finland and found that men who used the sauna two to three times per week had a 24 per cent lower risk of dying than people not going to the sauna.
The researchers believed that sauna bathing could have positive effects on cardiovascular health similar to physical exercise because the high-temperature (79°C) increased the heart rate of bathers.
Original research paper published in JAMA Internal Medicine on February 23, 2015.
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