| Original article : The effects of sauna on body composition , serum lipids and hormones in young females |
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| Abstract |
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The sauna is widely used as a place for recovering from fatigue, and having an relaxing experience in Korea. It can also help in controling of body weight and treating a variety of ills. Up to today, the effects of sauna have not received much attention in our country, although a large population take a sauna every day or several times in a week. So this study was performed to investigate physiological effects of the sauna. The anthropometric measurements and the values of serum glucose, lipids, insulin, prolactin, growth hormone and TSH were compared between before and after a 7-day sauna bath in thirty-four female university students. Sauna bathing reduced BMI, % of body fat and fat mass without changing of body weight. It also reduced blood glucose, triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol and the atherogenic index, whereas increased total-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and prolactin. According to the sauna effect shown by the enhanced HDL-cholesterol and reduced body fat, it suggested that sauna is good for the health and could have a favourable effect of preventing obesity. |
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