Regular bathing in tub, especially with hot water, can lower the risk from heart disease and stroke, says a study done in Japan where there are also cases of sudden deaths associated with hot baths.
Everybody knows that bath can give good sleep and better health. The study, done to assess the long term impact of bath, found that tub bath specially the hot bath was found to be protective and improving cardiovascular health. The study involved more than 61,000 middle aged adults (45 to 59 years).
At the start of the study in 1990, some 43,000 participants reported on their bathing habits and potentially influential factors: lifestyle, to include exercise, diet, alcohol intake, weight (BMI); average sleep duration; and medical history and current medicines use.
The study showed that compared with a once or twice weekly bath or no bath at all, a daily hot bath was associated with a 28% lower overall risk of cardiovascular disease, and a 26% lower overall risk of stroke. It was also found that 26% lower and 35% lower risks of overall cardiovascular disease for warm and hot water, respectively.
“We found that frequent tub bathing was significantly associated with a lower risk of hypertension, suggesting that a beneficial effect of tub bathing on risk of [cardiovascular disease] may in part be due to a reduced risk of developing hypertension,” write the researchers.
