SOME LIKE IT HOT: Even if they do have high blood pressure

You have a heart problem or high blood pressure. And you’ve read the signs at the side of the hotel jacuzzi or hot tub. It’s not safe for you to enter. So there you sit, watching your friends and family having a great time in the jacuzzi, while you drown your sorrows with an orange juice.

But is it really necessary for you to deprive yourself of this simple pleasure? Not according to researchers who assessed the health risks for themselves. They got 21 patients with stable hypertension to sit in a hot tub for 10 minutes (no doubt getting them to sign a disclaimer beforehand) – and guess what? Their blood pressure actually went down when they were in the tub, and then rose within 10 minutes of them getting out of the tub.

(Source: CMAJ, 2003; 169: 1265-8).