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Sauna Hype°H

Story · Heat

Watch the verbs heat up as a sauna study becomes news.

In February 2015 a Finnish paper linked frequent sauna use to fewer deaths, and the coverage took less than a day to turn that link into a promise.Source 1 · Cohort studyAssociation Between Sauna Bathing and Fatal Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality EventsLaukkanen T, Khan H, Zaccardi F, et al.. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ Scroll through the week's headlines and watch each one take its rung on a ladder of verbs.

By Adam BognarSep 24, 20267 min read

Scroll to open the paper ↓

PaperJAMA Internal MedicineFeb 23, 2015

Increased frequency of sauna bathing is associated with a reduced risk of SCD, CHD, CVD, and all-cause mortality.

Main verbis associated with

  1. Promises a result

  2. Says it protects

  3. Says it cuts the risk

  4. Says it might

  5. Reports a link

    The paper

It starts on Monday, Feb 23, 2015

The paper says frequent sauna use is associated with fewer deaths

Researchers followed 2,315 men from eastern Finland for about 20 years. Men who took saunas four to seven times a week died less often than men who went once a week. The paper's conclusion says frequent sauna bathing is associated with lower risk.Source 1 · Cohort studyAssociation Between Sauna Bathing and Fatal Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality EventsLaukkanen T, Khan H, Zaccardi F, et al.. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗

An editor's note in the same issue said it's unclear why the frequent bathers lived longer. It could be the heat, the relaxation, the time off or the company.Source 2 · ReviewHealth Benefits of Sauna BathingRedberg RF. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗Source 3 · News reportSauna use associated with reduced risk of cardiac, all-cause mortalityJAMA Network. JAMA Network press release, reposted by ScienceDaily, 2015.Read the page ↗

The news breaks the same day

A wire story says saunas help you live longer

An Associated Press story ran in The Guardian, and its headline promised a longer life.Source 4 · News reportSaunas help you live longer, study findsAssociated Press. The Guardian, 2015.Read the page ↗

The line under the headline mentioned Finnish men. Nothing near the top said the study only watched habits the men already had.

Another outlet follows that Monday

The Daily Mail says even one sauna a week halves the risk

The Mail's headline said saunas could save your life and that even once a week halves the risk of dying from heart disease.Source 5 · News reportHow regular SAUNAS could save your life: Getting sweaty even once a week halves the risk of dying from heart diseaseHope J. Daily Mail, 2015.Read the page ↗ Once a week was the study's comparison group. The halving came from comparing men who went four to seven times a week with the once-a-week men.Source 1 · Cohort studyAssociation Between Sauna Bathing and Fatal Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality EventsLaukkanen T, Khan H, Zaccardi F, et al.. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗

The article also compared frequent bathers with men who don't use saunas. The study had no such group. Only 12 men in the original cohort didn't use saunas, and the researchers left them out.Source 6 · News reportStudy Links Sauna Use to Better Health – In FinlandHusten L. CardioExchange, NEJM Journal Watch, 2015.Read the page ↗

More coverage arrives Tuesday, Feb 24

The journal's own release sticks with associated

JAMA Network's press release uses the language of association from its headline down.Source 3 · News reportSauna use associated with reduced risk of cardiac, all-cause mortalityJAMA Network. JAMA Network press release, reposted by ScienceDaily, 2015.Read the page ↗ Time had already called the finding a strange connection.Source 7 · News reportThe Strange Connection Between Saunas and LongevityWorland J. Time, 2015.Read the page ↗

That Tuesday the Daily Express told its readers to live longer by sweating it out in the sauna.Source 8 · News reportLive longer by sweating it out in the saunaMorgan T. Daily Express, 2015.Read the page ↗

Feb 25 brings a second release

The university says saunas protect men

Two days after the paper, the University of Eastern Finland put out a release of its own. Its headline says frequent sauna use protects men against cardiac death. The opening line adds that saunas can reduce the risk.Source 9 · News reportFrequent sauna use protects men against cardiac deathUniversity of Eastern Finland. University of Eastern Finland press release (archived), 2015.Read the page ↗

Of the two official releases we found, only this one uses a verb that claims cause and effect.

The week goes on

Some outlets kept the link a link

Harvard Health's blog said linked.Source 10 · News reportSauna use linked to longer life, fewer fatal heart problemsMerz B. Harvard Health Blog, 2015.Read the page ↗ MinnPost wrote associated and ran a section of caveats on why this kind of study can't prove cause. It also gave the actual risk in each group.Source 11 · News reportFinnish saunas associated with living longer, say researchersPerry S. MinnPost, 2015.Read the page ↗

MinnPost still labeled the figures for death from any cause as heart deaths.

Six weeks pass

The university's verb kept traveling

In April the Anchorage Daily News ran the study under a headline saying saunas protect against fatal coronary problems.Source 12 · News reportFinnish study: Saunas protect against fatal coronary problemsRosen Y. Anchorage Daily News, 2015.Read the page ↗ Protect is the verb from the university's release. Further down, the article said correlated and gave the men's ages.

The pattern repeats

Three later papers from the Finnish study drifted the same way

Dementia · December 2016

  1. The paper

    “Sauna bathing is inversely associated with dementia and Alzheimer's disease in middle-aged Finnish men”Source 13 · Cohort studySauna bathing is inversely associated with dementia and Alzheimer's disease in middle-aged Finnish menLaukkanen T, Kunutsor S, Kauhanen J, et al.. Age and Ageing, 2017.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗

  2. The university

    “Frequent sauna bathing protects men against dementia”Source 14 · News reportFrequent sauna bathing protects men against dementiaUniversity of Eastern Finland. University of Eastern Finland press release (archived), 2016.Read the page ↗

  3. Daily Mail

    “elderly men are 66% less likely to be diagnosed”Source 15 · News reportCan daily saunas reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's? Finnish study finds elderly men are 66% less likely to be diagnosed if they take hot treatments frequentlyDaily Mail. Daily Mail, 2016.Read the page ↗

The men were 42 to 60 when they joined the study. The Sun's story the same day called the sauna a steam room.Source 16 · News reportWorking up a sweat in the sauna 'lowers your risk of Alzheimer's disease'The Sun. The Sun, 2016.Read the page ↗

Read the claim on the dial →

Stroke · May 2018

  1. The paper

    “Sauna bathing reduces the risk of stroke in Finnish men and women”Source 17 · Cohort studySauna bathing reduces the risk of stroke in Finnish men and womenKunutsor SK, Khan H, Zaccardi F, et al.. Neurology, 2018.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗

  2. The neurologists

    “Saunas may be linked to lower stroke risk”Source 18 · News reportMore than relaxation? Saunas may be linked to lower stroke riskAmerican Academy of Neurology. EurekAlert! (archived), 2018.Read the page ↗

  3. Daily Mail

    “could cut your risk of STROKE by as much as 61%”Source 19 · News reportWhy a daily sauna could cut your risk of STROKE by as much as 61%: Study finds relaxing in high temperatures can reduce blood pressureDaily Mail. Daily Mail, 2018.Read the page ↗

This time the paper's own title claimed cause and effect, and the American Academy of Neurology's release was the careful one. This study never tested the claim in the Mail's subhead that relaxing in the heat can reduce blood pressure.

Read the claim on the dial →

Blood pressure · September 2017

  1. The paper

    “Regular sauna bathing is associated with reduced risk of hypertension”Source 20 · Cohort studySauna Bathing and Incident Hypertension: A Prospective Cohort StudyZaccardi F, Laukkanen T, Willeit P, et al.. American Journal of Hypertension, 2017.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗

  2. The university

    “Frequent sauna bathing keeps blood pressure in check”Source 21 · News reportFrequent sauna bathing keeps blood pressure in checkUniversity of Eastern Finland. University of Eastern Finland press release (archived), 2017.Read the page ↗

  3. Daily Mail

    “Want to lower your blood pressure? Go to a sauna”Source 22 · News reportWant to lower your blood pressure? Go to a saunaDaily Mail. Daily Mail, 2017.Read the page ↗

The Mail's article said the men cut their blood pressure by nearly half. The study measured their risk of developing high blood pressure.

Read the claim on the dial →

Cold plunge claims drift too

The dopamine number grew with every retelling

The dopamine figure behind cold plunges made a similar trip from a Prague lab to a 2026 headline. Scroll down and watch the bar stretch.

Andrew Huberman told listeners in a 2022 episode on cold that the Prague study saw dopamine rise 250%. He put that as 2.5 times.Source 23 · PodcastUsing Deliberate Cold Exposure for Health and Performance (episode 66)Huberman A. Huberman Lab podcast, 2022.Read the page ↗ The study had measured dopamine in the blood of ten young men after an hour in 14°C water.Source 24 · Clinical trialHuman physiological responses to immersion into water of different temperaturesŠrámek P, Šimečková M, Janský L, et al.. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2000.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗

×0×1×2×3×4×5×6×7×8×9×10×11×12WHAT THE STUDY WAS SAID TO SHOW×2.5WHAT A 2026 HEADLINE SAID×2.5

This story touches these claims

36°H

Likely

Heat

“Regular sauna use helps you live longer.”

48°H

Unsettled

Heat

“Sauna cuts your risk of dementia by 66%.”

41°H

Unsettled

Heat

“Frequent sauna use cuts your stroke risk by 61%.”

74°H

Stretched

Cold

“A cold plunge raises your dopamine by 250%.”

We placed each headline by its strongest verb

We put each headline on the rung that matches its strongest verb. The rungs climb from reporting a link at the bottom to promising the reader a result at the top. They're our own judgment. We quote every headline exactly as its page printed it, and in September 2026 we loaded each page directly or through the Internet Archive.

Some pages block automated visitors, and we left those out along with any other coverage we couldn't load. The ladder shows the headlines we could check. It doesn't count every outlet that ran the story.

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We cited these sources

  1. 01Laukkanen T, Khan H, Zaccardi F, Laukkanen JA. Association Between Sauna Bathing and Fatal Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality Events. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2015;175(4):542-548. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.8187 PMID 25705824
  2. 02Redberg RF. Health Benefits of Sauna Bathing. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2015;175(4):548. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.8206 PMID 25706401
  3. 03JAMA Network. Sauna use associated with reduced risk of cardiac, all-cause mortality. JAMA Network press release, reposted by ScienceDaily. 2015. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  4. 04Associated Press. Saunas help you live longer, study finds. The Guardian. 2015. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  5. 05Hope J. How regular SAUNAS could save your life: Getting sweaty even once a week halves the risk of dying from heart disease. Daily Mail. 2015. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  6. 06Husten L. Study Links Sauna Use to Better Health – In Finland. CardioExchange, NEJM Journal Watch. 2015. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  7. 07Worland J. The Strange Connection Between Saunas and Longevity. Time. 2015. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  8. 08Morgan T. Live longer by sweating it out in the sauna. Daily Express. 2015. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  9. 09University of Eastern Finland. Frequent sauna use protects men against cardiac death. University of Eastern Finland press release (archived). 2015. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  10. 10Merz B. Sauna use linked to longer life, fewer fatal heart problems. Harvard Health Blog. 2015. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  11. 11Perry S. Finnish saunas associated with living longer, say researchers. MinnPost. 2015. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  12. 12Rosen Y. Finnish study: Saunas protect against fatal coronary problems. Anchorage Daily News. 2015. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  13. 13Laukkanen T, Kunutsor S, Kauhanen J, Laukkanen JA. Sauna bathing is inversely associated with dementia and Alzheimer's disease in middle-aged Finnish men. Age and Ageing. 2017;46(2):245-249. doi:10.1093/ageing/afw212 PMID 27932366
  14. 14University of Eastern Finland. Frequent sauna bathing protects men against dementia. University of Eastern Finland press release (archived). 2016. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  15. 15Daily Mail. Can daily saunas reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's? Finnish study finds elderly men are 66% less likely to be diagnosed if they take hot treatments frequently. Daily Mail. 2016. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  16. 16The Sun. Working up a sweat in the sauna 'lowers your risk of Alzheimer's disease'. The Sun. 2016. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  17. 17Kunutsor SK, Khan H, Zaccardi F, Laukkanen T, Willeit P, Laukkanen JA. Sauna bathing reduces the risk of stroke in Finnish men and women. Neurology. 2018;90(22):e1937-e1944. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000005606 PMID 29720543
  18. 18American Academy of Neurology. More than relaxation? Saunas may be linked to lower stroke risk. EurekAlert! (archived). 2018. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  19. 19Daily Mail. Why a daily sauna could cut your risk of STROKE by as much as 61%: Study finds relaxing in high temperatures can reduce blood pressure. Daily Mail. 2018. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  20. 20Zaccardi F, Laukkanen T, Willeit P, Kunutsor SK, Kauhanen J, Laukkanen JA. Sauna Bathing and Incident Hypertension: A Prospective Cohort Study. American Journal of Hypertension. 2017;30(11):1120-1125. doi:10.1093/ajh/hpx102 PMID 28633297
  21. 21University of Eastern Finland. Frequent sauna bathing keeps blood pressure in check. University of Eastern Finland press release (archived). 2017. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  22. 22Daily Mail. Want to lower your blood pressure? Go to a sauna. Daily Mail. 2017. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  23. 23Huberman A. Using Deliberate Cold Exposure for Health and Performance (episode 66). Huberman Lab podcast. 2022. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  24. 24Šrámek P, Šimečková M, Janský L, et al.. Human physiological responses to immersion into water of different temperatures. European Journal of Applied Physiology. 2000;81(5):436-442. doi:10.1007/s004210050065 PMID 10751106
  25. 25Brain Mindset. Neuroscientist: 'Cold Showers increase Your Dopamine by 250%'. YouTube. 2022. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.
  26. 26Agate S. Cold Plunges Spike Dopamine Up to 500x and Rewire Your Brain. Kansas City Star, syndicated on Yahoo Health. 2026. Accessed Sep 24, 2026.