Skip to content
Sauna Hype
← Read the whole TLDR

Safety · 13

1 in 2

Finnish sauna deaths from 1990 to 2002 involved alcohol

Half the people who died in Finnish saunas had been drinking.

Forensic records show alcohol in half of Finnish sauna deaths from 1990 to 2002.Source 1 · Case seriesDeath in Sauna*Kenttämies A, Karkola K. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2008.Read the paperPubMed ↗ In a small experiment, adding alcohol to a sauna dropped systolic pressure from 136 to 113 mmHg. The sauna alone left it where it started.Source 2 · Clinical trialAlcohol and sauna bathing: effects on cardiac rhythm, blood pressure, and serum electrolyte and cortisol concentrationsRoine R, Luurila OJ, Suokas A, et al.. Journal of Internal Medicine, 1992.Read the paperPubMed ↗

Try this

Keep alcohol out of the sauna, and stay out yourself the morning after heavy drinking. Don't let anyone who has been drinking bathe alone.

We cited these sources

  1. 01Kenttämies A, Karkola K. Death in Sauna*. Journal of Forensic Sciences. 2008;53(3):724-729. doi:10.1111/j.1556-4029.2008.00703.x PMID 18471223
  2. 02Roine R, Luurila OJ, Suokas A, Heikkonen E, Koskinen P, Ylikahri R, et al.. Alcohol and sauna bathing: effects on cardiac rhythm, blood pressure, and serum electrolyte and cortisol concentrations. Journal of Internal Medicine. 1992;231(4):333-338. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2796.1992.tb00941.x PMID 1588256