Sauna Bathing to Improve Vascular Health of Adults With Heart Disease

Coronary Artery Disease Clinical Trial

Official title:

Effects of Sauna Bathing on Cerebrovascular Function in Middle-aged to Older Adults With Heart Disease

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03620539
• Other study ID #: ICM2017-2312
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: December 4, 2018
• Est. completion date: September 12, 2022

Study information

• Verified date: October 2023
• Source: Montreal Heart Institute
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This study is a clinical trial that will determine if sauna bathing improves blood vessel health in adults aged 50-70 years with heart disease.

Description:

Mounting evidence suggests that heat therapy may improve cardiovascular health. Recent analyses of a large cohort of middle-aged to older Finnish men have established that frequent sauna bathing is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular mortality, of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and of developing hypertension. Given the observational nature of these relationships, it remains unknown if the beneficial effects of sauna bathing can be directly attributed to heat exposure.

The objective of this study is to test the primary hypothesis that 8 weeks of sauna bathing improves flow-mediated dilation, a measure of blood vessel health, in middle-aged to older adults (50-70 yrs) with stable coronary artery disease.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 61
• Est. completion date: September 12, 2022
• Est. primary completion date: September 12, 2022
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 50 Years to 70 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

1. A history of angiographic coronary disease: =70% arterial diameter narrowing of at least one major epicardial coronary artery and/or prior coronary revascularization and/or documented prior acute coronary syndrome and/or perfusion defect during exercise testing or pharmacological stimulation

2. Stable medication doses (=4 weeks) prior to enrolment

3. Body mass index <35 kg/m2

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Recent (<3 months) coronary artery disease-related hospitalization or change in angina pattern

2. Unstable angina

3. Ejection fraction <40% and/or clinical evidence of heart failure

4. Significant valvular heart disease

5. Uncontrolled hypertension (>180/110 mmHg)

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Coronary Artery Disease
• Heart Diseases

Intervention

Other:
• Lifestyle intervention
Sauna bathing

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Canada	Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation Centre of the Montreal Heart Institute	Montréal	Quebec

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Montreal Heart Institute

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Canada, 

References & Publications (1)

Debray A, Gravel H, Garceau L, Bartlett AA, Chaseling GK, Barry H, Behzadi P, Ravanelli N, Iglesies-Grau J, Nigam A, Juneau M, Gagnon D. Finnish sauna bathing and vascular health of adults with coronary artery disease: a randomized controlled trial. J App — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Blood pressure	Systolic blood pressure at rest	Change from baseline after 8 weeks
Other	Central arterial stiffness	Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity	Change from baseline after 8 weeks
Other	Heart rate variability	Resting levels of heart rate variability	Change from baseline after 8 weeks
Primary	Flow-mediated dilation	Brachial artery flow-mediated dilation in response to 5 minutes of forearm occlusion	Change from baseline after 8 weeks
Secondary	Post-occlusion reactive hyperaemia (AUC)	Vascular conductance area-under-the-curve during reactive hyperaemia induced by 5 minutes of forearm occlusion	Change from baseline after 8 weeks
Secondary	Post-occlusion reactive hyperaemia (Peak)	Peak vascular conductance during reactive hyperaemia induced by 5 minutes of forearm occlusion	Change from baseline after 8 weeks
Secondary	Local skin heating-induced vasodilation	Plateau of the cutaneous vascular conductance response during local heating of the skin to 39°C	Change from baseline after 8 weeks