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GWI Research Webinar Series

WELLNESS POLICY

April 2, 2025, 11am-12pm ET

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Sustainability and Wellness: Transforming the Future of Real Estate

PART OF THE BLUEPRINTS OF WELLBEING WEBINAR SERIES

Meet the Speakers

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A recently published paper from Mayo Clinic, authored by Seto K Kunutsor, MD, PhD and Jari A. Laukkanen, MD, PhD explores sauna bathing and its link to health benefits beyond its use for leisure and relaxation. The paper analyzes observational and interventional studies that suggest that regular or frequent sauna bathing reduces the incidence of vascular and nonvascular diseases, such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and respiratory conditions; may improve the severity of conditions such as musculoskeletal disorders, COVID-19, headache, and influenza; and increases the life span. It also summarizes the available evidence linking the combined effects of Finnish sauna bathing and other risk factors on vascular outcomes, including cardiovascular disease and intermediate cardiovascular phenotypes, nonvascular outcomes, and mortality.

The paper’s authors conclude that, while sauna bathing has traditionally been used for leisure and pleasure purposes, the epidemiologic and interventional evidence suggests that regular sauna bathing is consistently linked with an array of health benefits and also increases lifespan. The evidence suggests that frequent sauna bathing may augment the beneficial effects of protective risk factors, such as physical activity and fitness, or offset the adverse effects of other risk factors. The effects of sauna are independent of physical activity; hence, when used in combination, it can exert substantial benefits compared with physical activity alone.

For people who genuinely cannot engage in physical activity, the use of sauna alone may be enough to confer beneficial health outcomes, given that some of the clinical effects of sauna are similar to those produced by moderate- or high-intensity physical activity. Definitive trials that make head-to-head comparisons of sauna and physical activity/exercise are also lacking and are urgently warranted.

Article Highlights

• Finnish sauna bathing, a passive heat therapy characterized by exposure to a high environmental temperature for a brief period, is linked with myriad health benefits, particularly on the vascular system.

• Evidence suggests that frequent sauna bathing is an emerging protective risk factor that may potentiate the beneficial effects of protective risk factors, such as physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness, or attenuate or offset the adverse effects of other risk factors.

• Interventional evidence shows that 8 weeks of regular sauna bathing sessions combined with exercise produces a mean reduction in systolic blood pressure of about 8 mm Hg.

• Frequent sauna bathing appears to offset the adverse impact of systemic inflammation, low socioeconomic status, and high systolic blood pressure on outcomes such as cardiovascular disease, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and mortality.

• Adding frequent sauna sessions will substantially augment the benefits of physical activity. For people who are unable to meet physical activity guidelines or are unable to exercise at all because of physical activity limitations, regular use of sauna may be an alternative lifestyle strategy to mitigate the risk of diseases due to other risk factors.

Read the full study here: https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(23)00008-3/fulltext

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All You Need to Know to Offer Cryotherapy Effectively, Safely and Profitably

by GWI Cryotherapy Initiative Chair Rainer Bolsinger and Vice Chair Antra Getzoff

As popularity of cold therapies is rapidly growing along with the public interest in holistic wellness practices that boost the immune system, prevent illness, slow down aging, improve physical performance and appearance of the body and make people’s lives not only longer but also better, whole-body cryotherapy as the most powerful of them is getting under the radar of more and more policy makers, governments, educational institutions, and businesses.

Cryotherapy is now offered not only in sports facilities and narrowly specialized rehabilitation or wellness centers. It has made its way into clinics, spas and med spas, hotels, office buildings, and even public facilities such as airports. The growing interest means a need for educating the audience and spreading knowledge and best practices to better equip the current and future service providers.

What you need to know:

• Whole-body cryotherapy has a wide range of researched applications and benefits, but it also involves risks that come with generating and applying extremely low temperatures.
• There are different equipment solutions on the market, and picking the right one for the business is a key to its success.
• The related investment is considerable.
• Treatment outcome may differ with different technologies.
• The build-out is unique and presents challenges that need to be understood and proactively eliminated.
• The ambient environment, especially humidity, must be managed to prevent frosting of the evaporators and fogging of the treatment rooms.

In other words, there is a lot to know to provide whole-body cryotherapy effectively, safely, and profitably.

To learn more about this topic, download the Provider’s Guide to Whole Body Cryotherapy, a 64-page guide on all you need to know to offer Cryotherapy effectively, safely and profitably. This complimentary guide is offered by the GWI Cryotherapy Initiative to continue to support and insure the highest standards of safety in the industry.

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