05-06-2025
Real Health podcast: Pouring cold water on saunas' health claims with Dr Tadhg Crowley
Dr Tadhg Crowley, GP, chair of the IMO GP committee and associate professor at University College Dublin, joins me on this week's episode of the Real Health podcast.
The big thing I wanted to get out of this conversation was whether the health claims about saunas were backed up by medical research. The GP told me, 'In terms of some of the research that's out there, they've looked at it affecting mental health, affecting lung diseases, arthritis, and there are various studies. None of them big enough to say, we'd absolutely agree that it proves health benefits a hundred percent.'
Cold water plunges have also become popular in Ireland, so I wanted to check with the doctor what are his concerns about the practice. He said, 'I would have concerns in terms of immersing yourself. First of all, it can cause respiratory difficulties and if you are out your depth and you're doing that, obviously you can't do it on your own. You need to be with people. In terms of the electrophysiology of the heart going from a normal temperature deep into really cold temperatures you'd have to be concerned about that.'
You can listen to the full episode here or wherever you get your podcasts.
