Health
Heat exposure linked to better sleep, experts say — here's why
Heat exposure has been linked to lasting benefits for overall health.
Spending time in heated environments, like a sauna, can reduce the risk of some chronic diseases and can help improve sleep, research has shown.
In an on-camera interview with Fox News Digital, Todd Anderson, co-founder of Dream Performance & Recovery and host of the “Beat the Heat” podcast, shared some lesser-known effects of spending time in a sauna.
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“Sauna went from this thing that felt good, to something that could actually be a longevity tool,” said the Nashville-based health and wellness expert. “The combination of this hard science and the explosion in longevity and popularity has created something.”
Spending time in a sauna can have multiple health benefits, studies have shown. (iStock)
Increased “sauna bathing” has been associated with a reduced risk of sudden cardiac death, fatal coronary heart disease, fatal cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality, according to research from Finland.
Participants in a global sauna survey in 2019 also reported health benefits regarding mental well-being and sleep, with few adverse effects.
The survey found that participants — particularly from Finland, Australia and the U.S. — were most motivated to use saunas for relaxation.
How heat improves sleep
While saunas can improve longevity and mood, Anderson, whose podcast is hosted inside a sauna, added that heat exposure can also improve sleep.
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When the body heats up before sleep, the blood vessels open, allowing the body to get more circulation to the extremities, he said.
Although the body’s core temperature needs to cool down by about a degree to fall into quality sleep, raising the body temperature might seem “counterintuitive,” the expert added.
When the body heats up before sleep, the blood vessels open, allowing the body to get more circulation to the extremities, an expert said. (iStock)
But since the blood vessels are open and pumping more blood, this allows the core temperature to lower faster, and the body’s instinct is to cool itself off after being exposed to heat.
“You go into a cold, dark room … and all of a sudden you’re able to lower your core temperature much more quickly than you normally would, resulting in falling asleep faster and getting higher quality sleep throughout that first part of the night,” Anderson said.
“Plenty of evidence shows that viruses do not do well in environments with high temperatures.”
The expert added that the same sleep benefits can be captured with a hot bath, shower or hot tub.
“The longevity and all-cause mortality benefits are going to be connected particularly to the sauna,” he said. “But there are some great sleep studies [showing the benefits] of applying any type of heat before bed.”
Viruses don’t like it hot
Exposure to heat can also help boost the immune system, as the body’s natural response to fighting a bug is to spike a fever, according to critical care physician Dr. Roger Seheult.
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Methods like steam saunas raise the body’s natural temperature and can help kill off viruses that don’t fare well in the heat, he said.
“Plenty of evidence shows that viruses do not do well in environments with high temperatures, and that our body signals the innate immune system using fever,” the California-based doctor told Fox News Digital.
Methods like steam saunas raise the body’s natural temperature and can help kill off viruses that don’t fare well in the heat. (iStock)
In addition to the health benefits, Anderson noted that he’s made lasting friendships during sauna sessions.
“It’s a rare bubble in our society right now where phones don’t work. You’re face-to-face. You’re going through some controlled adversity,” he told Fox News Digital. “There [are] just so many things that I think have dissipated from our society that are brought back to life in a sauna.”
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“When you go through stress together, your brain is wired, and it promotes connection with other people.”
Accessibility for all
Enjoying a sauna doesn’t have to require a luxury health club membership, according to Anderson, as saunas have been popularized in many cultures for generations.
“There are ways to make them with scrap wood and there are some different, cheap heating options,” he said.
Todd Anderson (right) sits outside his sauna after a session with “Beat the Heat” guest Ken Rideout. (Todd Anderson)
In Finland, a country where saunas are a part of the everyday routine, there are more than five million people and three million saunas, noted Anderson, who recently visited there.
“Almost everybody has a sauna at their house,” he shared.
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In many countries, saunas are part of the overall culture and can have healing properties, Anderson went on.
“It’s a feeling. It’s very stress-free, in tune with their body connection. Families do it together. It’s this spiritual thing.”
In many countries, saunas are part of the overall culture and can have healing properties, Anderson said. (iStock)
Proper practice and potential risk
The average person will lose a pint of sweat during a short session in a sauna’s dry heat, according to Harvard Health.
“The pulse rate jumps by 30% or more, allowing the heart to nearly double the amount of blood it pumps each minute,” stated the Harvard Medical School publication.
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“Most of the extra blood flow is directed to the skin; in fact, the circulation actually shunts blood away from the internal organs. Blood pressure is unpredictable, rising in some people but falling in others.”
While saunas are generally safe for most people, Harvard Health cautioned that people with uncontrolled high blood pressure or heart disease should check with their doctors before participating.
“A sauna’s dry heat (which can get as high as 185°F) has profound effects on the body,” Harvard Health wrote. (iStock)
Sauna-goers should also avoid alcohol and medications that may “impair sweating and produce overheating before and after your sauna,” according to the same source.
Harvard advised staying in the sauna for no more than 15 to 20 minutes and gradually cooling down after.
Drinking two to four glasses of cool water is also encouraged after a session.
“Don’t take a sauna when you are ill,” Harvard Health warned. “And if you feel unwell during your sauna, head for the door.”
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Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.
Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.
For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.
Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.
The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)
Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.
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“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.
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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”
High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)
The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.
In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.
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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.
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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.
Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)
“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.
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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.
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Older adults classified as “SuperAgers” generate at least twice as many neurons in the hippocampus than their typical aging peers, a new study has revealed.
These findings, released on Wednesday by the University of Illinois Chicago and Northwestern University, could help explain why SuperAgers have exceptional memory and cognitive resilience even well past 80 years old.
Northwestern has been studying SuperAgers for decades, defining them as “extraordinary individuals aged 80 and above whose memory performance rivals that of people three decades younger.” The researchers use special memory recall tests to make this determination.
In this study, they analyzed post-mortem brain tissue — nearly 356,000 individual cell nuclei — with a focus on the hippocampus, which is essential for forming new memories and supporting learning and spatial navigation.
They compared tissue from SuperAgers, typical older adults, older adults with early dementia/Alzheimer’s and younger healthy adults.
SuperAger Ralph Rehbock sits with his wife in his home. New findings from the University of Illinois Chicago and Northwestern University could help explain why SuperAgers have exceptional memory and cognitive resilience well past 80 years old. (Shane Collins, Northwestern University)
The researchers found that SuperAgers produced at least twice as many new neurons compared to “cognitively normal” older adults and those with Alzheimer’s pathology.
They also found that changes in certain brain support cells (astrocytes) and key memory cells (CA1 neurons) are linked to preserved cognitive ability, helping to keep the brain sharp with age.
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The SuperAgers also had different genetic activity patterns in their brains compared to those in Alzheimer’s disease.
“SuperAgers have more immature neurons and neuroblasts in the hippocampus, which is an indication of stronger neurogenesis when compared with other groups,” study co-author Changiz Geula, research professor of cell and developmental biology and neuroscience at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told Fox News Digital.
Northwestern University study co-author Ivan Ayala examines a SuperAger brain sample on a slide. (Shane Collins, Northwestern University)
“The study also showed that specific cells in the hippocampus show unique gene expression profiles that relate to neuronal function and transmission and are associated with superior cognitive function.”
The findings were published in the journal Nature.
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“We’ve always said that SuperAgers show that the aging brain can be biologically active, adaptable and flexible, but we didn’t know why,” said co-author Tamar Gefen, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a neuropsychologist at Northwestern’s Mesulam Institute for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease, in the release.
“This is biological proof that their brains are more plastic, and a real discovery that shows that neurogenesis of young neurons in the hippocampus may be a contributing factor.”
Dr. Tamar Gefen examines a slide of a SuperAger brain. (Shane Collins, Northwestern University)
Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, commented that the study discovered signs of plasticity and regeneration in SuperAgers.
“It confirmed not only preservation of brain tissue in the hippocampus, which is crucial for memory and cognition, but also regeneration and increased development of brain cells in that area,” Siegel, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
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“This is an important study because it may lead to certain cell gene treatments that could lead to more SuperAgers,” the doctor said. “It may also lead to more advanced testing to determine who will be a SuperAger and guide clinical treatment and management.”
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The study did have some limitations, primarily that the research relied on tissue samples taken at one specific point, instead of tracking changes over time.
Brain samples are fixed in blocks of wax so they can be stored and examined. (Shane Collins, Northwestern University)
Geula noted that studies using human brain tissue typically involve fewer cases than animal research, which can be a limitation. However, he emphasized that each case in this study was analyzed thoroughly.
“While these findings are not directly translatable to changes in everyday life and activities, they suggest that cognitive resilience is associated with greater integrity of many brain systems,” he told Fox News Digital. “This implies that attending to brain health is crucial for maintaining cognitive function in old age.”
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“Thus, maintaining good overall health by keeping systemic diseases in check, maintaining a healthy diet and exercise, and ensuring the elderly remain mentally active assume more importance.”
The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.
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