Sauna baths can stimulate the immune response

A study carried out by a team of researchers from the University of Eastern Finland has shown that Sauna baths can stimulate the immune response by releasing white blood cells into the bloodstream, which play a fundamental role in the body’s defense against various pathogens and diseases.

Specifically, the scientists who have carried out this work have indicated that a 30-minute sauna sessionwith a brief cool-down period under a cold shower halfway through the session, increases the number of circulating white blood cells. For their part, neutrophils and lymphocytes, essential for immune defense, return to their basal levels after half an hour.

“This could indicate that the sauna bath mobilizes additional white blood cells from the tissues into the bloodstream where they are then deposited again after the session,” explained researcher at the University of Turku, also in Finland, Dr. Ilkka Heinonen, who added that “this type of periodic release of white blood cells into the bloodstream is beneficial.”

Same result as with the practice of physical exercise

In fact, this process also occurs, for example, during physical exercise, and is the way in which the body improves immune surveillance by white blood cells throughout the body and strengthens its immune defenses. “Once they leave their storage locations, they can better patrol the body and respond to pathogens,” Heinonen emphasized.

“Interestingly, however, the levels of several cytokines changed in relation to the increase in body temperature during sauna bathing“, indicated, for his part, the lead author of this study and member of the University of Eastern Finland, Professor Jari Laukkanen, who added that “a similar association was not observed between white blood cell count and changes in body temperature.”

This research, which has included 51 adults with an average age of 50 yearsand whose results have been published in the specialized magazine temperaturestates that regular sauna use has been associated with various health benefits. The new findings could, in part, help explain how these develop in the body, although this work has been limited to a single sauna session and its immediate effects.