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DOI

  • Hugo Gravel
    Montreal Heart Institute Research Centre
  • Geoff B Coombs
    University of British Columbia, Okanagan
  • Parya Behzadi
    Montreal Heart Institute Research Centre
  • Virginie Marcoux-Clément
    Montreal Heart Institute Research Centre
  • Hadiatou Barry
    Montreal Heart Institute Research Centre
  • Martin Juneau
    Montreal Heart Institute Research Centre
  • Anil Nigam
    Montreal Heart Institute Research Centre
  • Daniel Gagnon
    Montreal Heart Institute Research Centre

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.

Keywords

  • Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging/physiology, Brachial Artery/growth & development, Female, Humans, Hyperemia/etiology, Male, Middle Aged, Steam Bath/adverse effects, Vasodilation
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)e14166
JournalPhysiological Reports
Volume7
Issue number13
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2019
Externally publishedYes
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