Acute effect of Finnish sauna bathing on brachial artery flow-mediated dilation and reactive hyperemia in healthy middle-aged and older adults.

Hugo Gravel,Parya Behzadi,Daniel Gagnon,Martin Juneau,Hadiatou Barry,Anil Nigam,Virginie Marcoux‐Clément,Geoff B Coombs

doi:10.14814/phy2.14166

Hugo Gravel, Parya Behzadi + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.14166

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Abstract

Regular Finnish sauna bathing is associated with a reduced risk of all‐cause and cardiovascular mortality in middle‐aged and older adults. Potential acute physiological adaptations induced by sauna bathing that underlie this relationship remain to be fully elucidated. The purpose of this study was to determine if typical Finnish sauna sessions acutely improve brachial artery flow‐mediated dilation (FMD) and reactive hyperemia (RH) in healthy middle‐aged and older adults. Using a randomized crossover design, FMD and RH were evaluated in 21 healthy adults (66 ± 6 years, 10 men/11 women) before and after each of the following conditions: (1) 1 × 10 min of Finnish sauna bathing (80.2 ± 3.2°C, 23 ± 2% humidity); (2) 2 × 10 min of sauna bathing separated by 10 min of rest outside the sauna; (3) a time control period (10 min of seated rest outside the sauna). FMD was taken as the peak change from baseline in brachial artery diameter following 5 min of forearm ischemia, whereas RH was quantified as both peak and area‐under‐the‐curve forearm vascular conductance postischemia. FMD was statistically similar pre to post 1 × 10 min (4.69 ± 2.46 to 5.41 ± 2.64%, P = 0.20) and 2 × 10 min of sauna bathing (4.16 ± 1.79 to 4.55 ± 2.14%, P = 0.58). Peak and area‐under‐the‐curve forearm vascular conductance were also similar following both sauna interventions. These results suggest that typical Finnish sauna bathing sessions do not acutely improve brachial artery FMD and RH in healthy middle‐aged and older adults.

Highlights

Recent analyses of the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease risk factor study provide compelling evidence for the longterm health benefits of Finnish sauna bathing (Laukkanen et al 2018)
The aim of the current study was to test the hypothesis that brachial artery flow-mediated dilation and reactive hyperemia are acutely augmented by typical Finnish sauna bathing sessions in healthy middle-aged and older adults
The current study evaluated the acute effect of typical Finnish sauna bathing sessions on brachial artery flowmediated dilation and forearm reactive hyperemia in healthy middle-aged and older adults

Summary

Introduction

Recent analyses of the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease risk factor study provide compelling evidence for the longterm health benefits of Finnish sauna bathing (Laukkanen et al 2018). In a large cohort of middle-aged Finnish males, greater frequency (≥2–3 times per week) and greater duration (>19 min per session) of sauna use were associated with a decreased risk of sudden cardiac death, cardiovascular and all-cause mortality (Laukkanen et al 2015), hypertension (Zaccardi et al 2017), stroke (Kunutsor et al 2018), as well as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (Laukkanen et al 2017). Potential physiological adaptations linking Finnish sauna use with these long-term health benefits remain to be elucidated. Acute physiological responses elicited by Finnish sauna bathing may lead to chronic adaptations that reduce the risk of adverse cardiovascular events in long-term sauna users. Studies have demonstrated that Finnish sauna bathing acutely decreases arterial blood pressure and arterial stiffness

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