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Finnish sauna bathing and vascular health of adults with coronary artery disease: a randomized controlled trial
Eight-week RCT of Finnish sauna (4 sessions/week, 20–30 min, 79°C) versus lifestyle control in 41 adults with stable CAD: heat acclimation occurred (lower resting core temperature, higher sweat rate) but brachial FMD, pulse wave velocity, and clinic blood pressure did not improve versus control.
Design
- n = 41 (62 ± 6 y; 33 men / 8 women) with stable CAD
- Intervention: 4×/wk sauna 20–30 min, 79 °C, 13% RH × 8 wk
- Controls: lifestyle maintenance
Primary vascular readouts (abstract)
- Brachial FMD: no between-group difference (interaction P = 0.909)
- cf-PWV: no significant intervention effect (P = 0.816)
- Clinic SBP/DBP: no between-group changes (P = 0.951 / 0.292)
Positive mechanistic shifts
- Resting core temperature −0.27 °C (95% CI −0.54 to −0.01; P = 0.046)
- Sauna sweat rate +0.3 L/h (95% CI 0.1–0.5; P = 0.003)
Evidence hygiene
CAD-specific short trial—interpret next to Kuopio-style sauna epidemiology and Lee 2022 post-exercise sauna work without merging populations.
Publication
Debray A, Gravel H, Garceau L, et al. J Appl Physiol. 2023 Oct 1;135(4):795–804. PMID 37650138.
Outcomes
- Systolic Blood PressureClinic systolic and diastolic blood pressure did not change differently between 8-wk Finnish sauna vs control in stable CAD (interaction P=0.951 and P=0.292 respectively per abstract).
- Endothelial FunctionBrachial artery FMD change did not differ between sauna and control (interaction P=0.909); cf-PWV unchanged (P=0.816)—null vascular efficacy trial in stable CAD despite heat-acclimation signs.