Probably the best way to discuss the results of sauna on immunity is via questions and answers. So here we go.

 

Q:  It has been said that sauna sessions improve immunity. Would this be true also of sauna blankets?

 

A:  You can expect that sauna blankets increase immunity as well. The reason for this is because sauna blankets like other saunas increase the temperature of the body. It’s the temperature increase that is responsible for the improved immunity.

 

Q: What about COVID and saunas? Any benefit of the sauna for immunity against it?

 

A: In July 2020, an official medical study was released in the F1000Research journal titled “Turning up the heat on COVID-19: heat as a therapeutic intervention.” The link is https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7372531/ in case you want to look it up.

 

The first line in the abstract says it all:  “Enveloped viruses such as SAR-CoV-2 are sensitive to heat and are destroyed by temperatures tolerable to humans. All mammals use fever to deal with infections…”

 

There are a couple other interesting statements in this paper: “The heat sensitivity of viruses is used routinely to deactivate viruses within vaccines, and temperatures of 55 to 65 degrees Celsius for 15 to 30 minutes are reported to deactivate a range of enveloped viruses, including coronaviruses.”

 

If respiratory viruses get past the first line of defense in the nose, the body responds with a fever. This is the immune system’s second line of defense.

 

Thus, if you can increase the internal body temperature, you can get immune system benefits from sauna and sauna blankets.

 

Q: How does heat stress from a sauna help kill viral infections?

 

A: Several different ways:

• inhibits viruses and other pathogens
• stimulates both parts of the immune system
• activates certain processes in the body that suppress inflammation
• prevents excessive tissue damage from the pathogens
• clears up the congestion in the nose
• causes heat stress that mimics effects of fever
• activates immunity via sauna by making cell membranes of the immune cells more fluid so they can move faster and respond quicker
• gets the T-cells to increase their interferon levels by 10 times
• makes the natural killer cells more potent, turning them into superman cells
• stimulates the release of heat shock proteins which present the protein attached to pathogens to the immune system to attack the pathogen and develop a memory for them

           

Q: What did the researchers of that sauna medical report conclude?

 

A: They concluded that heat is a cheap, convenient and widely accessible therapeutic modality with a long history of traditional use, yet it remains to be seen if heat can be effective in the treatment or prevention of COVID-19. Saunas are an attractive option for combatting viral infections. Using both modern medical treatments and natural therapies could integrate the natural therapies in mainstream healthcare and even support the well being of both patients and medical staff. This could reduce the impact of future pandemics.

 

Q: So basically they are saying that sauna heat and other heat therapies are highly effective for stimulating the immune system but they can’t say it would work?

 

A: Medical studies and journals play the politics game a lot of the time. The researchers concluded that after telling you all the ways that heat works. Now it’s up to you to do some research and make your own decision.

 

Q: If there are already lots of studies on these heat shock proteins improving immunity and saunas and sauna blankets raise the body heat enough to generate the proteins, what else do I have to know?

 

A: In one study, scientists gave 15-minute sauna sessions to 9 runners and 9 people who weren’t athletes. Their goal was to raise their core body temperature only 1.2 degrees Celsius (about 2 degrees Fahrenheit). After the sauna session, the white blood cells increased, which corresponds to better immunity.

 

However, you should know that the researchers also found that the immunity was more improved in the athletes than the non-athletes. So this means you can’t give up exercise if you want the best immune system response. (Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24511348/)

 

Q: If the subjects in the sauna study all had higher numbers of white blood cells, does that mean that one session of a sauna could possibly improve your immunity right away, like if you are coming down with a cold?

 

A: Yes. Saunas are a good way to help you build your immunity. Sauna blankets could increase your immunity. The FIR technology has already proven itself.