STRONGER IMMUNE SYSTEM
| Table of Contents |
|---|
| 1. Introduction |
| 2. How heat therapy can help to boost your immune system 2.1 Increased production of white blood cells 2.2 Triggered immune system response |
| 3. Conclusion |
Introduction
Your immune system is your body's defense against infection and illness. It is not just one single thing however. Like the name states, it is a system made up of multiple parts of your body, including white blood cells, antibodies, the lymphatic system, the spleen, the thymus and your bone marrow.
Put simply, these various parts of your immune system need to be functioning correctly and in harmony with each other in order for your immune system to remain strong and for you to be able to fend off infections and illness.
Anecdotally people who use heat therapy devices like the sauna have also described not getting sick as often as they used to. Now the science is starting to back up these anecdotal claims, with multiple studies confirming the positive impact heat therapy can have on your body's immune system.
For example, one study from the University of Vienna in Austria looked at the effect of regular sauna use and incidences of the common cold. During the study, 50 participants were tracked for a period of six months, with the outcome demonstrating that people who used the sauna regularly had a 30% less chance of catching the common cold or flu.
The studies authors concluded that:
"There were significantly fewer episodes of common cold in the sauna group. This was found particularly during the last three months of the study period when the incidence was roughly halved compared to controls... It is concluded that regular sauna bathing probably reduces the incidence of common colds..."
Further reading:
How heat therapy can help to boost your immune system
Increased production of white blood cells
Your bodies white blood cells act as the first line of defense against a virus or illness. That is, when a harmful substance enters your body (like a virus), it is your white blood cells that detect it and then trigger your immune system to fight off the substance.
Studies have shown that heat therapy helps to trigger your body's production of white blood cells, which in turn assists your body's immune system in detecting and fending off viruses and illness.
For example, a study from the Institute of Biomedical Science in Poland looked at the effect of sauna use on the body's white blood cell count and demonstrated that just a single sauna session will boost the amount of white blood cells, with the studies authors concluding that:
"After the sauna session, an increased number of white blood cells, lymphocyte, neutrophil and basophil counts was reported in the white blood cell profile... The obtained results indicated that sauna bathing stimulated the immune system to a higher degree..."
Further reading:
Triggered immune system response
It was the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates who famously said “Give me a fever and I can cure any disease.” Regarded as the father of clinical medicine, what Hippocrates was referring to was the body's natural response to heat-up (or have a fever) as a means to trigger the immune system and fend off illness.
While medical practitioners have known this to be true for millennia, modern science has now confirmed what Hippocrates had said all along. A study published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology found that elevated body temperature helps certain types of immune cells to work better, with the studies authors stating that:
"This research report and several others are showing that having a fever is part of an effective immune response. We had previously thought that the microbes that infect us simply can't replicate as well when we have fevers, but this new work also suggests that the immune system might be temporarily enhanced functionally when our temperatures rise..."
Further reading:
Conclusion
Ancient cultures have known for millennia that heat therapy helps to boost the immune system and fight off illness and disease. Now science is starting to demonstrate exactly why that is the case, with the evidence showing a clear link between increased body temperature and a better immune response.
The Heat Healer is a heat therapy device that has been designed as a modern day solution offering the same benefits you would expect from a traditional infrared sauna, only experienced in the privacy and convenience of your own home.
If you have any questions, jump over to our contact us page and we will be happy to respond to you directly.