Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 90, Issue 1 , Pages 173-177, January 2009

Safety, Acceptance, and Physiologic Effects of Sauna Bathing in People With Chronic Heart Failure: A Pilot Report

  • Jeffrey R. Basford, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, MN
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence to Jeffrey R. Basford, MD, PhD, 200 Second Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905
    • ,
  • Jae K. Oh, MD

      Affiliations

    • Division of Cardiovascular Disease and Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, MN
    • ,
  • Thomas G. Allison, PhD, MPH

      Affiliations

    • Division of Cardiovascular Disease and Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, MN
    • ,
  • Charles G. Sheffield, PT

      Affiliations

    • Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, MN
    • ,
  • Barbara G. Manahan, RDCS

      Affiliations

    • Division of Cardiovascular Disease and Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, MN
    • ,
  • David O. Hodge, MSci

      Affiliations

    • Division of Biostatistics, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, MN
    • ,
  • A. Jamil Tajik, MD

      Affiliations

    • Division of Cardiovascular Disease and Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, MN
    • ,
  • Richard J. Rodeheffer, MD

      Affiliations

    • Division of Cardiovascular Disease and Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, MN
    • ,
  • Chuwa Tei, MD

      Affiliations

    • First Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima, Japan

Abstract 

Basford JR, Oh JK, Allison TG, Sheffield CG, Manahan BG, Hodge DO, Tajik AJ, Rodeheffer RJ, Tei C. Safety, acceptance and physiologic effects of sauna bathing in people with chronic heart failure: a pilot report.

Objectives

To perform a pilot study and make a preliminary assessment of the safety and acceptance of supervised sauna bathing at moderate temperatures in people with chronic heart failure (CHF). Secondary measures included its impact on exercise tolerance and neuroendocrine concentrations.

Design

Randomized, controlled, cross-over trial.

Setting

Physical medicine and rehabilitation clinic.

Participants

Six men and 3 women (age, 62–87y) with New York Heart Association Class III and IV CHF.

Interventions

Subjects were randomized into 2 groups and told to maintain their normal medication and activity regimens. One group then began a 3-times-a-week, 4-week sauna bathing program at 60±1°C while the other continued with their usual activities and medications. Assignments were then reversed. Sessions were 15 minutes in length but were prolonged an additional 5 minutes for oral temperature increases less than 1.0°C.

Main Outcome Measures

Patient acceptance, Minnesota Living With Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLWHFQ) scores; treadmill exercise duration and plasma adrenaline, noradrenalin, aldosterone, atrial naturectic factor, adrenomedulin, and endothelin.

Results

Sauna bathing was well tolerated and no adverse effects were reported. Improvements in MLWHFQ scores and treadmill endurance did not achieve statistical significance on a between-group basis but were more marked after the sauna than during the control phase. Neuroendocrine concentrations showed no clear effect of sauna treatment with a between-group statistically significant difference (P=.049) found only in the case of noradrenalin's 24% decrease.

Conclusions

Sauna bathing under the moderate and supervised conditions of this study appears to be well tolerated and may be safe for people with CHF. More research is needed to further evaluate the safety and potential benefits of this approach.

Key Words: Cardiac disease, Heart failure, Hyperthermia, Rehabilitation, Sauna

List of Abbreviations: BP, blood pressure, CHF, chronic heart failure, CID, clinically important difference, MLWHFQ, Minnesota Living With Heart Failure Questionnaire, NYHA, New York Heart Association

 

 Supported by the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN (grant no. 300-95).

 No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.

 Reprints are not available from the author.

PII: S0003-9993(08)01539-6

doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2008.06.029

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Volume 90, Issue 1 , Pages 173-177, January 2009

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