PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Basking too long in a sauna without adequate hydration may risk heat stroke, doctors warn

Although rare, condition can be life threatening, even in absence of various risk factors

2025-01-08
(Press-News.org) Basking too long in a sauna may put bathers at risk of heat stroke, particularly if they haven’t drunk enough water beforehand, warn doctors in the journal BMJ Case Reports, after treating a woman whose condition required admission to hospital.

Although relatively rare, heat stroke can be life threatening, even in the absence of various underlying risk factors, such as heart, lung, or neurological disease, and heavy drinking or taking a cocktail of prescription meds, they point out.

Heat stroke is defined as a sharp increase in core body temperature above 40°C that is associated with acutely impaired brain function, and ‘non-exertional’ heat stroke results from prolonged exposure to high environmental temperatures, explain the authors.

They treated a woman in her early 70s who had been found unconscious in her local gym’s sauna, where she had been doing stretching exercises for around 45 minutes.

Her core body temperature was 42°C—normal temperature is 36.4°C—her blood pressure was extremely low, and her heart rate was extremely high. She had a seizure after her arrival in emergency care.

She had previously been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and an underactive thyroid, but she wasn’t a smoker or heavy drinker, and was a regular gym goer, so had few risk factors, point out the authors.

She was rapidly cooled with wet towels and a fan and given intravenous fluids and blood products to stabilise her. 

Blood tests revealed malfunctioning kidneys and liver, evidence of a minor heart attack, and muscle tissue breakdown (rhabdomyolysis). 

She regained consciousness within 2 hours of reaching normal core temperature but was confused and drowsy for 2 days. By day 3 this had resolved and she had no further seizures during her inpatient stay, which lasted 12 days.

After 26 days she had more or less fully recovered, except for some mild fatigue and mild liver function disturbance.

This is just one case report after prolonged sauna use, and as far as the authors are aware, only 9 other similar cases have been reported. But 3 of those people died as a result.

“The prognosis of heat stroke varies according to patient factors, particularly extremes of age,” explain the authors. “Classical heat stroke in elderly people carries a mortality rate of  [more than] 50%, and this increases further with each additional organ dysfunction. 

“Heat-related deaths spike during heat waves, as has been observed in multiple large international datasets. Deaths from heat stroke are expected to rise as global temperatures continue to increase," they add.

“Once heat stroke has occurred, the key determinate of outcome is how rapidly a patient is cooled, as the time spent with elevated core body temperature is correlated to the degree of cellular damage,” they emphasise.

The woman in question comments: “My experience has emphasised the dangers of saunas and how important it is to be fully hydrated on entering a sauna, and for them to be regularly checked by staff. As a regular sauna user, I never suffered any issues and, on reflection, I believe I had not drunk enough water.”

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

DNA adds new chapter to Indonesia’s layered human history

DNA adds new chapter to Indonesia’s layered human history
2025-01-08
A new study from the University of Adelaide and The Australian National University (ANU) has outlined the first genomic evidence of early migration from New Guinea into the Wallacea, an archipelago containing Timor-Leste and hundreds of inhabited eastern Indonesian islands. The study, published in PNAS, addresses major gaps in the human genetic history of the Wallacean Archipelago and West Papuan regions of Indonesia – a region with abundant genetic and linguistic diversity that is comparable to the Eurasian ...

Many children and young people with diagnosable mental health disorders are not receiving timely help, says new research

2025-01-08
Children and young people with high levels of mental health needs are struggling to receive the help they need, or to have their difficulties recognised, according to a new study. The STADIA trial, which is published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, was led by experts from the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham, and was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The large study, which spans different parts of England, involved 1,225 children and young people with emotional difficulties who had been referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) for help, and followed them up over 18 months to see ...

Dinosaurs roamed the northern hemisphere millions of years earlier than previously thought, according to new analysis of the oldest North American fossils

Dinosaurs roamed the northern hemisphere millions of years earlier than previously thought, according to new analysis of the oldest North American fossils
2025-01-08
MADISON — How and when did dinosaurs first emerge and spread across the planet more than 200 million years ago? That question has for decades been a source of debate among paleontologists faced with fragmented fossil records. The mainstream view has held that the reptiles emerged on the southern portion of the ancient supercontinent Pangea called Gondwana millions of years before spreading to the northern half named Laurasia.             But now, a newly described dinosaur whose fossils were uncovered by University of Wisconsin–Madison paleontologists is challenging ...

Breakthrough Durham University research offers new insights into quenching electrical waves in the heart

2025-01-08
-With images-   Scientists at Durham University have developed a theoretical framework to predict the efficacy of quenching of electrical pulses in excitable media, such as those found in the human heart.   This breakthrough could significantly accelerate the development of more efficient defibrillation techniques for treating cardiac arrhythmias.   The study, published in Physical Review E, addresses a longstanding challenge in understanding how stable excitation waves in systems like cardiac tissue can be effectively neutralised through small changes.   These electrical waves, when irregular, are thought to underly serious conditions such as fibrillation, ...

SLAC will play a key role in DOE’s new research centers for advancing next-generation microelectronics

SLAC will play a key role in DOE’s new research centers for advancing next-generation microelectronics
2025-01-07
Around the globe day and night, the microelectronics behind much of modern technology help run computers, medical devices and state-of-the-art instruments that power scientific discoveries. But all of that technology consumes energy, and adding artificial intelligence to the mix increases our energy needs dramatically. Some experts caution that this pace of energy usage is unsustainable. To tackle this challenge, the Department of Energy (DOE) has announced funding $179 million for three Microelectronics ...

Market researchers and online advertisers, are A-B tests leading you astray? A new study says they could be

2025-01-07
Researchers from Southern Methodist University and University of Michigan published a new Journal of Marketing study that examines platforms’ A-B testing of online ads and uncovers significant limitations that can create misleading conclusions about ad performance. The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled “Where A-B Testing Goes Wrong: How Divergent Delivery Affects What Online Experiments Cannot (and Can) Tell You About How Customers Respond to Advertising” and is authored by Michael Braun and Eric M. Schwartz. Consider a landscaping company whose designs focus ...

Research alert: Ketamine use on the rise in U.S. adults; new trends emerge

2025-01-07
A recent study analyzing data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) found that past-year recreational ketamine use among adults has increased dramatically since 2015, including significant shifts in associations with depression and sociodemographic characteristics such as race, age and education status. Ketamine use has shown promise in clinical trials therapy for several mental illnesses, including treatment-resistant depression, and the new research suggests that ongoing monitoring of recreational use trends is crucial to balancing these ...

Crop switching for climate change in China

Crop switching for climate change in China
2025-01-07
A study of Chinese agriculture recommends planting areas currently growing maize and rapeseed with alternative crops to reduce environmental costs while maximizing food production as the climate changes.  Chinese food production has nearly doubled since the 1980s, mainly thanks to intensified nutrient usage and irrigation. Given that China’s demand for food is forecast to increase further, Qi Guan and colleagues modeled the country’s agricultural system under varying climate change scenarios in the 21st century, using a dynamic global vegetation model. The authors created scenarios ...

Cell-based therapy improves outcomes in a pig model of heart attacks

Cell-based therapy improves outcomes in a pig model of heart attacks
2025-01-07
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In a large-animal model study, researchers have found that heart attack recovery is aided by injection of heart muscle cell spheroids derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells, or hiPSCs, that overexpress cyclin D2 and are knocked out for human leukocyte antigen classes I and II. This research, published in the journal Circulation Research, used a pig model of heart attacks. Pig hearts more closely resemble the human heart in size and physiology, and thus have a higher clinical relevance to human disease, compared to studies in mice. University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers, led by Jianyi “Jay” ...

Researchers have a better understanding of how our cells dispose of waste while developing ways to control it

Researchers have a better understanding of how our cells dispose of waste while developing ways to control it
2025-01-07
Recycling takes place in our cells at all times: in a process called autophagy, cell components that are no longer needed are enclosed by membranes and broken down into their basic building blocks. This vital process prevents the formation of harmful aggregates and makes nutrients available again. A research team co-led by Prof. Dr. Claudine Kraft from the CIBSS Cluster of Excellence at the University of Freiburg and Dr. Florian Wilfling from the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt has now discovered the conditions necessary for autophagy to start. They were also able ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

CMD-OPT model enables the discovery of a potent and selective RIPK2 inhibitor as preclinical candidate for the treatment of acute liver injury

Melatonin receptor 1a alleviates sleep fragmentation-aggravated testicular injury in T2DM by suppression of TAB1/TAK1 complex through FGFR1

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals Shen-Bai-Jie-Du decoction retards colorectal tumorigenesis by regulating the TMEM131–TNF signaling pathway-mediated differentiation of immunosuppressive dendritic ce

Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B Volume 15, Issue 7 Publishes

New research expands laser technology

Targeted radiation offers promise in patients with metastasized small cell lung cancer to the brain

A high clinically translatable strategy to anti-aging using hyaluronic acid and silk fibroin co-crosslinked hydrogels as dermal regenerative fillers

Mount Sinai researchers uncover differences in how males and females change their mind when reflecting on past mistakes

CTE and normal aging are difficult to distinguish, new study finds

Molecular arms race: How the genome defends itself against internal enemies

Tiny chip speeds up antibody mapping for faster vaccine design

KTU experts reveal why cultural heritage is important for community unity

More misfolded proteins than previously known may contribute to Alzheimer’s and dementia

“Too much going on”: Autistic adults overwhelmed by non-verbal social cues

What’s driving America’s deep freezes in a warming world?

A key role of brain protein in learning and memory is deciphered by scientists

Heart attacks don’t follow a Hollywood script

Erin M. Schuman wins 2026 Nakasone Award for discovery on neural synapse function and change during formation of memories

Global ocean analysis could replace costly in-situ sound speed profiles in seafloor positioning, study finds

Power in numbers: Small group professional coaching reduces rates of physician burnout by nearly 30%

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage: A comprehensive review of CCUS-EOR

New high-temperature stable dispersed particle gel for enhanced profile control in CCUS applications

State gun laws and firearm-related homicides and suicides

Use of tobacco and cannabis following state-level cannabis legalization

Long-term obesity and biological aging in young adults

Eindhoven University of Technology and JMIR Publications announce unlimited open access publishing agreement

Orphan nuclear receptors in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease development

A technological breakthrough for ultra-fast and greener AI

Pusan National University researchers identify key barriers hindering data-driven smart manufacturing adoption

Inking heterometallic nanosheets: A scalable breakthrough for coating, electronics, and electrocatalyst applications

[Press-News.org] Basking too long in a sauna without adequate hydration may risk heat stroke, doctors warn
Although rare, condition can be life threatening, even in absence of various risk factors