ArticlePhysiological reports2019
Acute effect of Finnish sauna bathing on brachial artery flow-mediated dilation and reactive hyperemia in healthy middle-aged and older adults.
Article in Physiological reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Japanese steam sand bath heat therapy mediates comparable reductions in blood pressure with smaller discomfort and respiratory strains than hot water immersion and sauna.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Trial
- Temperature and humidity independently influence thermoregulatory responses during Finnish sauna bathing.Temperature (Austin, Tex.) · 2026Article
- Heat thermotherapy to improve cardiovascular function and cardiometabolic health: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Experimental physiology · 2025Article
- Whole-body hot water immersion effect on cerebral haemodynamics and subsequent cerebrovascular reactivity to carbon dioxide.Experimental physiology · 2025Article
- Systemic cardiovascular and carotid baroreflex support of arterial pressure during recovery from passive heat stress in young and older adults.Physiological reports · 2025Article
- Comparison of thermoregulatory, cardiovascular, and immune responses to different passive heat therapy modalities.American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology · 2025Article
- The effect of acute hot water immersion on cutaneous peripheral microvascular responses in males of White-European, Black-African and South-Asian descent.Temperature (Austin, Tex.) · 2025Article
- The acute effect of whole-body heat therapy on peripheral and cerebral vascular reactivity in Black and White females.Microvascular research · 2023Article
- The acute effect of heat exposure on forearm macro- and microvascular function: Impact of measurement timing, heating modality and biological sex.Experimental physiology · 2023Article
- Heat therapy: mechanistic underpinnings and applications to cardiovascular health.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2021Review
- Acute effect of Finnish sauna bathing on brachial artery flow-mediated dilation and reactive hyperemia in healthy middle-aged and older adults.Physiological reports · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
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.
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