# In the 1980s, Finland asked 2,315 men: how often do you go to sauna?

- Series: [Saunantakaa](https://miu.fm/saunantakaa.md)
- Published: 2026-10-08
- Place: [Kuopio](https://miu.fm/kuopio.md)
- Page: https://miu.fm/saunantakaa/in-the-1980s-finland-asked-2-315-men-how-often-do-you-go-to

## Story

In the 1980s, Finland asked 2,315 men: how often do you go to sauna?

Then they waited. Twenty years. The men came from Kuopio and the countryside around it, middle-aged, a random sample. Some went once a week, most two or three times, and some almost every day.

In 2015 the results came out. The men who went four to seven times a week had about one third of the risk of sudden cardiac death, compared with once a week. Headlines everywhere: sauna saves your life!

Now the important part. This is a link, not proof. Maybe healthy men simply go more. Maybe sick men stop going. Maybe it is the friends on the bench. Even the journal's editor wondered whether it was the heat, the rest or "the camaraderie of the sauna".

A popular Finnish saying calls the sauna the poor man's pharmacy. Science says we need more studies. Tonight, both are going to sauna.

Sauna safely: no alcohol, and never alone.

Do you think it is the heat or the company?

Sources: Laukkanen et al., JAMA Internal Medicine 175(4), 2015 (KIHD cohort, 2,315 men aged 42-60, median follow-up 20.7 years); R. Redberg, editor's note, JAMA Internal Medicine 2015; UNESCO nomination file, Sauna culture in Finland; Kenttämies and Karkola 2008 (alcohol in sauna deaths).
Sounds: Freesound (CC0): jakobhandersen, peridactyloptrix, kyles, mr101986, amholma, qubodup, genel, img1020.

## Watch

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeOdHdGj1kz/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reel/28952478124407853/

## Nearby

- [Kylä nimeltä Pöljä](https://miu.fm/alkujuuret/savossa-on-kyla-nimelta-polja-ja-kyla-on-nimestaan-ylpea.md) (Siilinjärvi, 20 km)
- [Raketilla Suonenjoelle](https://miu.fm/pienisuurikyla/kuka-lensi-raketilla-kuopiosta-suonenjoelle.md) (Suonenjoki, 41 km)
- [Se ei ruostu (Sorsakoski 1891-2001)](https://miu.fm/viimeinenvuoro/savossa-koski-takoi-haarukoita-ja-jokaiseen-leimattiin-kylan.md) (Leppävirta, 45 km)

---

Under copyright law, a quotation must name its source: Miuradio, https://miu.fm/saunantakaa/in-the-1980s-finland-asked-2-315-men-how-often-do-you-go-to

© 2026 Miuradio, https://miuradio.com