This study determined if unsupervised Finnish sauna bathing for 8 wk improves markers of vascular health in adults with coronary artery disease. Finnish sauna bathing reduced resting core temperature and improved sweating capacity, indicative of heat acclimation. Despite evidence of heat acclimation, Finnish sauna bathing did not improve markers of endothelial function, microvascular function, arterial stiffness, or blood pressure.

Menopause accelerates increases in arterial stiffness and decreases cognitive performances. The objective of this study was to compare cognitive performances in physically active pre- and post-menopausal females and their relationship with arterial stiffness. We performed a cross-sectional comparison of blood pressure, carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) and cognitive performances between physically active late pre- and early post-menopausal females. Systolic (post-menopause—pre-menopause: +6 mmHg [95% CI −1; +13], p = 0.27; ŋ² = 0.04) and diastolic (+6 mmHg [95% CI +2; +11], p = 0.06; ŋ² = 0.12) blood pressures, and cf-PWV (+0.29 m/s [95% CI −1.03; 1.62], p = 0.48; ŋ² = 0.02) did not differ between groups. Post-menopausal females performed as well as pre-menopausal females on tests evaluating executive functions, episodic memory and processing speed. Group differences were observed on the computerized working memory task. Post-menopausal females had lower accuracy (p = 0.02; ŋ² = 0.25) but similar reaction time (p = 0.70; ŋ² < 0.01). Moreover, this performance was inversely associated with the severity of menopausal symptoms (r = −0.38; p = 0.05). These results suggest that arterial stiffness and performance on tests assessing episodic memory and processing speed and executive functions assessing inhibition and switching abilities did not differ between physically active pre- and post-menopausal females. However, post-menopausal females had lower performance on a challenging condition of a working memory task, and this difference in working memory between groups cannot be explained by increased arterial stiffness.

We hypothesized that endothelial sensitivity to exercise-induced shear rate is reduced in healthy postmenopausal females. In contrast to this hypothesis, endothelial sensitivity to increases in shear rate caused by handgrip exercise did not differ between healthy postmenopausal females and males of similar age. These results suggest that a reduced endothelial sensitivity to exercise-induced shear rate may not contribute to the inconsistent effect of aerobic exercise interventions on brachial artery flow-mediated dilation in healthy postmenopausal females.

Sex-specific cardiac and vascular cold pressor test (CPT) responses have not been well described. In females, we observed bidirectional CPT-induced, echocardiography-derived stroke volume (SV) responses that were negatively correlated with total peripheral resistance but not blood pressure, whereas males consistently increased SV. Pressor responses did not differ between sexes. These data support interindividual heterogeneity in the mechanisms by which females respond hemodynamically to the CPT, which do not appear to influence pressor responses.