Effects of Repeated Sauna Treatment on Ventricular Arrhythmias in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure

Abstract

BackgroundThe aim of the present study was to determine whether repeated 60°C sauna treatment improves cardiac arrhythmias in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients, because ventricular arrhythmias are an important therapeutic target in CHF. Methods and Results Thirty patients (59±3 years) with New York Heart Association functional class II or III CHF and at least 200 premature ventricular contractions (PVCs)/24 h assessed by 24-h Holter recordings were studied. They were randomized into sauna-treated (n=20) or non-treated (n=10) groups. The sauna-treated group underwent a 2-week program of a daily 60°C far infrared-ray dry sauna for 15 min, followed by 30 min bed rest with blankets, for 5 days per week. Patients in the non-treated group had bed rest in a temperature-controlled room (24°C) for 45 min. The total numbers of PVCs/24 h in the sauna-treated group decreased compared with the non-treated group [848±415 vs 3,097±1,033/24 h, p<0.01]. Heart rate variability (SDNN, standard deviation of normal-to-normal beat interval) increased [142±10 (n=16) vs 112±11 ms (n=8), p<0.05] and plasma brain natriuretic peptide concentrations decreased [229±54 vs 419±110 pg/ml, p<0.05] in the sauna-treated group compared with the non-treated group. Conclusion Repeated sauna treatment improves ventricular arrhythmias in patients with CHF. (Circ J 2004; 68: 1146 -1151

Sauna Bathing and Incident Hypertension: A Prospective Cohort Study

“…Notably, majority of Finnish people use sauna regularly and access to sauna is not limited by socioeconomic background or other reasons. 1,17 The view of sauna as an indicator of SES is indeed stronger and more common in non-Finnish cultures than in Finland. Although we accounted for SES, it is not possible to exclude completely that sauna is not an indicator of economic, familial, or working traits.…”

Thermal Therapy: A Viable Adjunct in the Treatment of Heart Failure?

“…12 The dry sauna method sauna has been studied extensively by several groups of Japanese researchers at the University of Kagoshima. 2,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Those researchers have utilized this approach in subjecting patients with heart failure to dry sauna at a temperature of 60°C for a period of 15 minutes per session.…”

“…An additional study with 30 NYHA class II and III patients reported a 73% reduction in premature ventricular contractions (from 3161 to 848 per 24-hour period) following 2 weeks of thermal therapy. 13 Other forms of arrhythmias, such as couplets and episodes of ventricular tachycardia, were found to be decreased by 50% and 75%, respectively.…”

“…Cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) was shown to decrease after repeated applications of thermal therapy. 2,13,14,22 Two weeks of dry thermal therapy resulted in decreased CTR from 60% to 57% in patients with both dilated and ischemic cardiomyopathy. 22 In another study, 4 weeks of thermal therapy resulted in a reduction of CTR from 61% to 55% in NYHA class III and IV patients.…”

Therapeutic heat and cold in cardiac rehabilitation

“…The therapy was also found to increase circulation, lower blood pressure, lower blood sugar, and help in weight loss. Another study looked at the effects of repeated 60°C sauna treatments on the cardiac arrhythmias in chronic HF patients and found that the treatments were successful [65]. Crinnion [66] showed a growing body of evidence on the clinical use of saunas for therapeutic purposes.…”