ReviewCureus2025
The Role of Sauna Bathing in Ischemic Heart Disease: A Narrative Review of Therapeutic Potential, Physiological Mechanisms, and Emerging Clinical Applications.
Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Ischemic heart disease (IHD) continues to be one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality among the general adult population. It occurs due to a lack of sufficient coronary blood flow. Sauna bathing has recently been reported to give cardiovascular benefits that are similar to those from a moderate level of exercise. The proposed benefits include increased vascular function, lower blood pressure, and improved cardiac performance. Thus, sauna therapy could be considered as an adjunctive intervention for patients with IHD. This review assesses the existing clinical research on the therapeutic use of sauna bathing in managing IHD, the physiological pathways contributing to its protective effects, and future research directions. Relevant studies were identified in PubMed and Google Scholar (2015-2025) using keywords such as IHD, sauna bathing, and steam bath. The studies showed that with consistent usage of Finnish or far-infrared saunas, patients with IHD gain better hemodynamic stability, endothelial function, autonomic balance, and anti-inflammatory activity. Observational studies have been most consistent in showing that sauna use produces a favorable impact on the cardiovascular system. However, the results of randomized controlled trials offer rather mixed conclusions. In conclusion, while sauna treatment seems safe and beneficial (especially for patients who are not able to undergo regular exercise), it warrants the need for unitary protocols and larger, longer-lasting trials to both establish its effectiveness and clarify its position in cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.