The St. Cloud V.A. continues to highlight whole health.  Dr. Sean Omara and Public Affairs Officer Barry Venable from the St. Cloud V.A. joined me on WJON today.  Dr. Omara says a recent discovery indicates many health benefits for people when using a sauna.

Dr. Omara says a study done over 20 years determined that people who do a sauna for 1 to 2 times a week at 15 minutes at a time with temperatures at around 175 degrees in a dry Finish sauna with rocks, reduced their morality rate from heart attacks and strokes by over 20 percent.  Omara says the study found that if people were to use the sauna for 5 to 7 times a week they reduced the chance of heart attack and stroke by over 50 percent.

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Dr. Omara says the same study found that a regular sauna reduces the chance of Alzheimer's disease by  66 percent and the rate of dementia by 65 percent.

Dr. Omara says this is a large study that was done with 20,000 people over 20 years in Norway where sauna practice is popular.  He says they looked at what people were dying from and how that rate could be mitigated.  Omara says sauna use reduced all causes of mortality by 25%.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Dr. Sean Omara from the St. Cloud V.A. it is available below.

 

 

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