In the hunt to prevent dementia, people have tried everything from cutting-edge pharmaceuticals to crosswords and blueberries. But the new hottest tip comes from Finnish scientists — saunas.
Regular steam baths could cut the risk of dementia by two thirds, they found. The more often that middle-aged men went to the sauna, the less likely they were to get dementia, the 20-year study concluded.
Hot saunas make the heart pump faster and scientists believe that this could protect the brain, with circulation problems previously implicated in dementia. Simple relaxation could also play a role, they suggested.
While the study cannot prove a link, the Finns said that saunas might be worth a try during Britain’s long, grey winters.
They looked at 2,300 healthy men aged 42 to 60 in the mid-1980s who were followed over the next two decades, during which time 327 developed dementia.
Advertisement
Men who went to the sauna two or three times a week were 22 per cent less likely to get dementia, after adjusting for age, previous heart health and habits such as drinking and smoking. This rose to 66 per cent less likely for men who went four to seven times a week, according to results in the journal Age and Ageing.
“It is a very high risk reduction,” said Jari Laukkanen of the University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, who led the study. “We know that heart and brain are somehow connected through circulation. There may also be something related to whole body relaxation — people may be happier and more relaxed if they go to the sauna.”
His research has previously found that regular saunas could reduce blood pressure and cut the risk of dying of heart disease.
So deeply are saunas embedded in Finnish culture that Professor Laukkanen was unable to compare the effects of going regularly with not going at all, as just 12 men in his study never went.
While the habit has not yet made the same inroads in Britain, he recommended it to the concerned middle-aged. “If you can, why not? It would be very nice in your country because it’s so cold and wet — why not go to the warm sauna?” he said.
Advertisement
Clare Walton, of the Alzheimer’s Society in Britain, said: “This type of study alone cannot tell us whether starting a regular sauna habit is a worthwhile way to improve brain health.
“Currently the best evidence to reduce the risk of dementia is to exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet and avoid smoking.”
Rosa Sancho, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “As this study does not look at other groups of people, such as women or people who do not use saunas, we do not know how this risk compares to the general population or what might be behind it.”