Recovery from sauna bathing favorably modulates cardiac autonomic nervous system

• Published in: Complementary therapies in medicine 2019-08, Vol.45, p.190-197
• Main Authors: Laukkanen, Tanjaniina, Lipponen, Jukka, Kunutsor, Setor K., Zaccardi, Francesco, Araújo, Claudio Gil S., Mäkikallio, Timo H., Khan, Hassan, Willeit, Peter, Lee, Earric, Poikonen, Sanna, Tarvainen, Mika, Laukkanen, Jari A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute effects; Autonomic nervous system; Autonomic Nervous System - physiology; Bathing; Blood pressure; Body mass index; Cardiac arrhythmia; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases - etiology; Cardiovascular Diseases - physiopathology; Cardiovascular response; Cardiovascular system; Cooling; Correlation analysis; Data collection; Diabetes; Family medical history; Female; Health risks; Heart rate; Heart Rate - physiology; Heart rate variability; Heat; Heat therapy; Humans; Humidity; Hypertension; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Males; Middle Aged; Nervous system; Parasympathetic nervous system; Questionnaires; Recovery (Medical); Risk analysis; Risk factors; Sauna bathing; Steam Bath - adverse effects; Temperature; Thermotherapy; Vagus nerve
• ISSN: 0965-2299; 1873-6963
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ctim.2019.06.011

•Sauna bathing, an activity that has been mainly used for pleasure and relaxation, is also becoming popular in many other populations.•Emerging Sauna bathing may be linked to several health benefits, including reduction in the risk of cardiovascular and neurocognitive diseases.•It has been postulated that regular sauna bathing may improve cardiovascular function via changes in endothelium-dependent dilatation, arterial stiffness, the autonomic nervous system.•The study showed that a single sauna exposure leads to significant changes in cardiac autonomic nervous balance as indicated by modulation of heart rate variability. Sauna bathing is becoming a common activity in many countries and it has been linked to favorable health outcomes. However, there is limited data on the heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) responses to an acute sauna exposure. We conducted a single-group, longitudinal study utilizing a pre-post design to examine acute effects of sauna bathing on the autonomic nervous system as reflected by HRV. A total of 93 participants (mean [SD] age: 52.0 [8.8] years, 53.8% males) with cardiovascular risk factors were exposed to a single sauna session (duration: 30 min; temperature: 73 °C; humidity: 10–20%) and data on HRV variables were collected before, during and after sauna. Time and frequency-domain HRV variables were significantly modified (p