has used a sauna has experienced, the time spent
in the hot, steamy sauna results in a rise in the bather’s
internal body temperature. While many benefits of sweating are
well recognized, the health benefits of this rise in body
temperature, known as artificially induced hyperthermia, are
less well known but equally important.
More than two thousand years ago, Hippocrates, the founder of
modern Western medicine, said, =ECGive me the power to create a
fever, and I shall cure any disease.=EE Often misunderstood as
simply another uncomfortable symptom of illness, fever is
actually the body’s natural method of fighting infection. When
a body runs a fever, the higher internal temperature both
stimulates the function of the immune system and inhibits the
growth and spread of bacteria and viruses. White blood cell
production is increased and the production of antibodies speeds
up. Also, the creation of interferon, an anti-viral protein
which has powerful immune boosting substance, is increased.
Fever also creates an inhospitable environment for bacteria and
viruses. Most microbes can only live and reproduce within a
fairly narrow temperature range. Once the temperature rises
beyond that range, the reproduction speed of the microbes
dramatically falls. For example, the growth rate of the polio
virus is two hundred fifty times slower at a temperature of one
hundred four degrees Fahrenheit than it is at the normal body
temperature of ninety-eight degrees.
Although the artificial =EBfever’ induced by sauna use does not
produce quite the same benefits of genuine fever, it does
create certain health benefits. A 1959 study at the Mayo
Clinic showed an increase in the production of white blood
cells by 58% during heat therapy treatments. A different study
noted that white blood cell activity increased during heat
therapy. Some sauna users have found that sauna bathing at the
first symptoms of a cold can prevent the illness from fully
developing.
About The Author: Catherine Cannon writes on a variety of
subjects. To learn more about this topic Catherine recommends
you visit http://luxsauna.com/
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