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Do regular hot baths promote health?

Following recent studies, researchers at Loughborough University believe taking warm baths regularly can improve health by causing a similar bodily response to that of exercise on markers associated with chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes.

Researchers from the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences are looking for males to participate in a study investigating the health promoting effects of warm baths. Although exercise is known to be an effective method of decreasing the risk for chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, recent studies suggest that taking a warm bath can cause similar responses.

So far studies have only tested this in response to a single warm bath-session, so researchers are now looking for participants to see if taking warm baths regularly can indeed improve health.

To take part you must:

  • be a male between the ages of 18 and 50
  • not engage in regular exercise of 2 hours or more
  • have a BMI of 27 or higher

The study consists of 3 main trials of approximately 4 hours accompanied by 10 warm bath sessions (lasting approximately 1 hour each) over a two week period. You will be required to provide blood samples and your blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen uptake and body temperature will be measured.

The warm bath sessions can take place at any time during the day and could therefore be easily planned around work or study.

If you are interested in taking part, or for more information on the study, please contact Sven Hoekstra.

Image: Pixabay