heart disease

Amazing relaxation while being bathed in soothing heat as your every care drifts away and your health gets a boost. Sounds delightful, right? The feel of a sauna is incredibly pleasing to many people, and now, research shows that regular sauna use is not just enjoyable. It also yields some serious health benefits. For example, it can help to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke as well as brain disorders such as dementia. With heart disease and Alzheimer’s being leading causes of death and disability in the United States, this news about saunas is definitely welcome.

What the research shows about sauna use

The research on the benefits of sauna is truly remarkable, and what is even more compelling is that the study showing the benefits was done over a long period of time (more than two decades) with a large number of participants. University of Eastern Finland researchers followed 2,300 men and discovered that there was a staggering 63% decrease in deaths from strokes and heart disease in the participants who used saunas regularly. Even more encouraging, there was a 66% decrease in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia cases with the sauna users. One key to getting results like that was using saunas frequently enough, such as completing four sessions weekly.

If any medication could achieve something like that, it would make headlines everywhere offline and online. It would be the top trend on every single social media network. This is just another piece of proof showing how well natural therapies work. (RELATED: Learn more about disease prevention at Prevention.news)

Why saunas are so beneficial for certain health conditions

Now the question is “Why does sauna use yield such amazing health benefits?” More research needs to be done to uncover more specific answers, but so far it appears that the astounding benefits relate to the increasing of the body’s core temperature in a mechanism called passive heat therapy. This in turn increases blood flow, which is beneficial to cardiovascular health. The process is similar to what happens when a person exercises. And sweating has been shown to be beneficial for overall health.

Quite possibly sauna use is beneficial also because it induces such a deep state of relaxation and stress relief, given that stress contributes to inflammation. Stress and inflammation are involved in many chronic health problems.

Ideas for getting into regular sauna use

Many Scandinavian homes have beautiful wood saunas, but this handy and healthful feature is not always prevalent in other areas of the world such as the United States. But that shouldn’t stop anyone from reaping the benefits of sauna use. Public locations such as gyms, spas and even integrative health practitioners’ offices house saunas. For those who prefer the privacy and convenience of in-home sauna use, there are portable saunas available to purchase online that are quite reasonably priced. Some models fold up for easy storage and portability.

There are also the much more elaborate, permanent and beautiful wood saunas. The main down side to these is that they are more expensive. But for people who can afford them, the cost certainly can be lower than the cost and suffering involved with a serious chronic condition such as heart disease or dementia.

We have known for a long time that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Now we need to revise that familiar phrase by saying “a few sauna sessions a week can keep many health problems away.” This information coming out about sauna use is a reminder that simple lifestyle practices can provide profound effects for our health. (Discover more natural health remedies at Remedies.news)

Sources:

CTVNews.ca

DrWhitaker.com

MedicalNewsToda.com

Sudden cardiac arrest, a fatal condition that occurs when the heart unexpectedly stops beating, kills more than 300,000 Americans each year. Only recently, legendary Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher, aka Princess Leia, passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest.

While the medical world has long believed that this catastrophic event comes without warning signs, according to a study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, a sudden cardiac arrest may not be as sudden as doctors once thought.

“We used to think sudden death happens without warning, or very little warning – a few minutes or an hour,” study co-author Dr. Sumeet Chugh, associate director of the Heart Institute and director of the Heart Rhythm Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said.

He has also commented that only 10 percent of people who have a sudden cardiac arrest survive. This makes it the ultimate heart disease. One which kills within ten minutes.

Early detection saves lives

However, don’t mistake a cardiac arrest for a heart attack because they are not the same. A heart attack is caused by blocked blood vessels that supply the heart with blood. A cardiac arrest, on the other hand, is an electrical change which stops the heart.

Previous studies already reported that people have symptoms very shortly before the cardiac arrest. This study, however, showed that patients might experience warning signs as early as a month in advance, which has never been recorded before, Dr. Chugh said.

He added that this discovery is important, because nearly one-third of those who informed their loved ones or called 911 survived, compared to only six percent among those who did not. These findings may open a new window of opportunity for cardiac arrest prevention and prediction that can stop the problem before it ever happens.

The study included nearly 840 patients, between the ages of 35 and 65, who experienced a cardiac arrest between 2002 and 2012. The researchers gathered information from survivors, family members, friends, medical records, and emergency response records to determine what symptoms were present up to four weeks before a sudden cardiac arrest.

Don’t ignore the “wake-up call”

The study authors found that as much as half of the patients, men and women, had at least some warning signs in the weeks before their heart suddenly stopped. The symptoms included chest pain and pressure, lightheadedness, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, and flu-like sensations such as nausea, back pain, and abdominal pain.

Chest pain was the most common symptom in men, while women were usually struggling with shortness of breath. The study authors also noted that the symptoms often resurfaced 24 hours before people had their cardiac arrest.

Dr. John Day, president of the Heart Rhythm Society and director of Heart Rhythm Services at Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray, Utah, explained that it is quite challenging to spot these vague signs. Millions of people experience chest pain or flu-like symptoms at some point in their life. Usually, these symptoms have nothing to do with a cardiac arrest.

“It’s not that everyone with chest pain is going to get a cardiac arrest,” stressed Chugh. “It could just be too much exercise or heartburn.”

However, people with risk factors for a heart disease, such as a family history, high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes or another health condition, should not ignore these important warning signs.

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