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Sauna use offsets the increased risk of premature death associated with low socioeconomic status.

A person’s socioeconomic status – a measure of their income, education, and occupation – is a robust predictor of their overall health and longevity. For example, people of low socioeconomic status typically have less access to financial, educational, social, and health resources than those with a higher socioeconomic status and are at greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Findings from a recent study suggest that sauna use negates some of the harmful effects of low socioeconomic status.

Sauna use induces hyperthermia, an increase in the body’s core temperature that stresses the body and switches on physiological responses involving neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, and cytoprotective mechanisms. These mechanisms work together to restore homeostasis and condition the body for future heat stressors, a phenomenon known as hormesis. Sauna use also mimics many of the cardiovascular effects of exercise, including increased heart rate and blood pressure

The investigators drew on data from the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study, an ongoing prospective population-based cohort study of health outcomes in more than 2,500 middle-aged men (42 to 61 years) from eastern Finland, where saunas are readily available. They calculated the men’s socioeconomic status based on information the men provided about their income, education, occupational prestige, standard of living, and housing conditions. They also collected information about the men’s sauna habits and categorized them as infrequent users (two times per week or less) or frequent users (three to seven times per week).

They found that over a 27-year period, men who were frequent sauna users were 14 percent less likely to die from all causes of premature death than infrequent users. However, men who were infrequent users but had low socioeconomic status were 35 percent more likely to die than men who were infrequent users but had high socioeconomic status. Men who were frequent users but had low socioeconomic status were just 7 percent more likely to die.

These findings suggest that sauna use offsets some of the increased risk of premature death associated with low socioeconomic status. Although saunas are not as readily available in many locations outside Finland, evidence suggests that very hot baths provide similar health benefits.

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