Inflammation is an important part of the body’s immune response that involves immune cells, cell-signaling proteins, and pro-inflammatory factors.
Systemic inflammation plays a role in the development of many chronic diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.
C-reactive protein is an important blood marker of systemic inflammation.
This study investigated whether frequency of sauna bathing was associated with levels of serum C-reactive protein (Laukkanen JA, Laukkanen T, 2018).
The participants were 2084 men, and they were between 42 and 60 years old without acute or chronic inflammation.
Average serum C-reactive protein levels were 2.41 mmol/L for participants that reported having a sauna bath once a week, 2.00 for participants using a sauna 2-3 times per week and 1.65 for participants using a sauna 4-7 times per week.
Reference
Jari A Laukkanen 1 2, Tanjaniina Laukkanen. Sauna bathing and systemic inflammation. Eur J Epidemiol . 2018 Mar;33(3):351-353.
