30/06/2026
This is recent post by Susanna Søberg highlights what I have been banging on about for years.
This is one of the main drivers of why I do what I do.
Cardiovascular disease is the biggest killer of women. Bigger than breast cancer, bigger than all cancers combined. As oestrogen drops we, women, loose the protection that it gives us, in our arteries in our legs and neck, etc - particularly if we have experienced glucose surges, for example, during pregnancy.
When women hit menopause we often don’t just loose oestrogen, we loose testosterone, too. We loose our motivation to exercise - and we need exercise to keep our hearts healthy.
Regular saunas, from a cardiovascular perspective, mimic exercise. The long term Eastern Finnish cohort studies demonstrate the powerful impact that regular saunas can have on the human cardiovascular system.
These studies were conducted on around 2,500 men over a period of about 20 years, with the aim of discovering how to reduce the high levels of heart disease amongst men, in that part of Finland.
What they found was the positive impact of regular saunas on men whose lifestyles might be unhealthy in other ways.
I am advocating for Jari Laukkenan’s et al.’s research to be repeated on women aged 42 - 60, from a range of socio-economic and ethic backgrounds, outside of Finland, with a comparative control group, to discover if these findings are generalisable to women.
If so, prescribing regular saunas, to perimenopausal and older women, could have a significant impact on our long-term health and wellbeing. Not just helping us better manage symptoms of the menopause, such as vasomotor symptoms, joint pain and sleep disruption, but our actual long term health and prevention of diseases, like heart disease, that can be traced to the loss of specific hormones, as we age.
Importantly, saunas can also help combat self esteem issues and a sense of social isolation that can come with transitioning through the menopause, replacing those with a sense of community. Regular saunas in a community-focused sauna, have the potential to keep us happy, healthy and socially connected, as we age. Which can only be a good thing 🔥
