In brief
Sitting in a hot room for a short time. A large Finnish study linked more frequent sauna bathing with lower rates of fatal heart disease and death, but it cannot prove cause.
- Fatal heart disease occurred in 22.3% of men who used a sauna once a week, 16.4% of those who used it 2 to 3 times a week and 12.0% of those who used it 4 to 7 times a week.
How it works
In a Finnish study of 2,315 middle-aged men followed for a median of about 21 years, those who used a sauna more often had lower rates of fatal heart disease and of death from any cause. The researchers concluded that more frequent sauna bathing is associated with a reduced risk.
Because this was an observational study, it shows an association, not proof that saunas cause the benefit. It included only middle-aged men from Eastern Finland.
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Sauna and heat has been studied for
- Coronary heart disease Emerging
A Finnish study of 2,315 men found more frequent sauna bathing was associated with lower rates of fatal heart disease.
Sources
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Summarised from the study abstract published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Sources read on 16 October 2026. General education only, not medical advice. Spotted a mistake? Please tell us through the HuBu-Intel contact page.