Safety, Acceptance, and Physiologic Effects of Sauna Bathing in People With Chronic Heart Failure: A Pilot Report
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.
aDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, MN
bDivision of Cardiovascular Disease and Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, MN
cDivision of Biostatistics, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Rochester, MN
dFirst Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima, Japan
Correspondence to Jeffrey R. Basford, MD, PhD, 200 Second Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905
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.
ABSTRACT