One of the more bizarre headlines in the news is a report that two people died in a “sweat lodge” and quite a few more people who were there required hospital treatment.
Any physician hearing of this will suspect the deaths were from one of two causes: One carbon monoxide (which reportedly has been ruled out) or second, heat related illness, or heat stroke.
Excess heat can be a killer:
Heat-related illnesses, such as heat exhaustion and heatstroke, occur when your body can’t keep itself cool. As the air temperature rises, your body stays cool when your sweat evaporates. On hot, humid days, the evaporation of sweat is slowed by the increased moisture in the air. When sweating isn’t enough to cool your body, your body temperature rises, and you may become ill.
During the 2003 heat wave, thousands died in Europe, mainly the elderly who did not have air conditioning.
The most common picture is heat exhaustion, where you get tired, confused, sweat a lot, and stop urinating. You might get a headache and muscle cramps. If you are old, or sick, especially if you have diabetes, weak kidneys or a weak heart, you can get very ill or even die. As you dehydrate (sweat your body’s water out), your blood pressure goes down and your blood becomes thicker, both of which can lead to a stroke or heart attack. Since you sweat electrolytes (salts), your body’s electrolytes can get out of whack, leading to muscle cramps, or even irregular heartbeats and death.
The most vunerable are the elderly, of course. During one heat wave, thousands of elderly people in France died of heat related injuries.
Usually a younger person who has heat exhaustion feels bad, but figures out he is hot, so seeks a cool drink or moves to a cooler area.
But the more serious heat illness, heat stroke, can be fatal.
In heat stroke, your body stops sweating, and your body temperature quickly goes up. The person is confused, and can go into convulsions with little warning. Those most vulnerable to this are infants, the elderly, those taking certain medications (usually sedatives or medicines that decrease sweating). Another risk group are athletes who exercise in the heat, those who work outdoors in the summer, and those who work in poorly ventilated rooms.
Heat stroke is a medical emergency, and the treatment is to cool off the patient IMMEDIATELY, using ice or cool water and fans.
There are certain precautions to prevent heat related illness: the main one is to keep hydrated (drink lots of water or other fluids). Another is to wear a hat or in the shade. A third one is not to stress oneself is one is not used to the heat. Keeping cool by positioning a fan helps, as does adequate ventilation if you work inside.
So when we read about the “sweat lodge” deaths, a few items make the average physician wonder if heat was the cause of the deaths.
Pertinent details number one: The room was 416 square feet (example 20×20 feet) and there were 64 people, so it was crowded. Body heat alone can raise the temperature of a room, even if the original temperature was within safe limits.
Another pertinent detail: They were in the room for over two hours.
Sauna manufacturers recommend you start with a thirty minute session, and as you get accustomed to the sauna, increase the length to 50 minutes.
That’s why if you visit a sauna or hot tub in a hotel, you will notice warning signs inside the saunas and hot tubs, warning you to limit your time to twenty minutes, not use them if you are pregnant, have heart problems, or high blood pressure, and not to drink alcohol if you plan to use them. There have been people who died in hot tubs and saunas, and hotels hate to lose customers this way.
Third detail: That area of Arizona is hot, and that may have contributed to the excess heat in the interior of the building, especially if the room was not well ventilated and no one was keeping an eye on the temperature.
Fourth detail: the two victims were from cooler climates, one from the hills of New York state and the other from Milwaukee. They may not have been “acclimatized” to the heat.
Now, sweat lodges are used by the Objibwe and other northern Plains tribes for both spiritual and health reasons. Many tribes have built one for their members. But essentially they are similar to saunas or old fashioned Turkish baths, all of which have a long history of being used to feel better in cool climates or the cool season of the year.
Saunas/sweat lodges/Turkish baths help you get rid of excess fluid in your tissues (something that probably saved lives before Lasix/furosemide was available) and of course the heat helped achy joints. The “relaxation” of the”treatment” will contribute to a person’s mental health, and I suspect the stress hormone cortisol will increase, which also can contribute to a temporary feeling of well being.
Just because a treatment is “Natural” doesn’t mean it is “harmless”: anything can be overdone, be it herbs or vitamins or exercise or faith healing or fad diets–or sweat lodges.
One wonders why these folks didn’t leave when they started to feel ill. Were they too embarrassed to stand up and leave? Or did an “expert” reassure them that their headaches and dizziness were “normal” from the “detoxification” process, rather than recognizing these as symptoms of heat illness?
Finally, one wonders if anyone was encouraging those in that hot room to drink adequate fluids: this could mean a quart an hour if the temperature is high enough.
A sweat lodge/sauna experience can be safe and helpful, if common sense is used. So when the temperature goes twenty below, go to your health club and enjoy yourself…but set the timer and don’t overdo it.
————————————–
Nancy Reyes is a retired physician living in the rural Philippines. She writes medical essays at HeyDoc Xanga blog.
17 users commented in " Were “Sweat Lodge” Deaths Caused by Too Much Heat? "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackSedona isn’t really in the hot desert part of Arizona, though. Just a quibble with your otherwise thoughtful article.
Very good points. I have done many sweat lodges and the one thing I would add is that a properly done lodge is opened up in between every round (which there are four of). The lodge door and often the back flap are opened to allow cooler, fresh air into the lodge for 10-15 minutes so the heat is not the same high temperature throughout the whole time. This really helps a lot with preventing heat stroke.
I live in Arizona and on a local station, they interviewed a Native American that said that anyone that has to pay someone for the Native American Lodge experience has bypassed the sacred intentions of the rite. Reportedly, these people paid large sums of money to the man who put this experience together.
To expand on what Rosy above said, in between rounds participants are usually offered water and the doors are opened to allow the lodge to cool off. When you have a structure as large as this one, any cool air is not going to reach the center and I doubt time was taken to provide water to 50+ people. Witness reports state 8 rounds were done instead of 4.
More importantly, it sounds as if Ray was attempting to sell a vision quest (hanblecha) which is actually a solitary venture, not a group experience to be sold for $10,000.
Nothing to see here folks, just keep moving, just more foolishness by the self absorbed. I wonder what percentage of the participants are conservatives? Hey honey, let’s go pop $18,000 to suffocate. Silly little liberals.
Oh, please – must there be a troll on every blog?? Sure, we all know there are no self-absorbed “conservatives” (hahahaha)
Ray’s whole agenda is about “creating wealth” — spirituality is only a marketing tool, not unlike the Osteens, etc. Greedy charlatans are only liberals or conservatives if it helps them fleece the vulnerable.
Maxfusion said,in October 12th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Hey Max. Do you have substantial evidence that “silly little liberals” but not conservatives were the participants? Don’t blindly make comments like yours and think that you are so on target with your comments.
From the way it appears, aside from the fact that this guy is very potentially uber rich and with Oprah promoting his self help book, the man may have very well violated AIRFA law. (American Indian Religious Freedom Act)
Not to forget mention a few other items of interest, such as, possible legal charges including wrongful death, neglect, violating Native American Indian itellectual rights, group property rights, exploiting cultural values and endangering cultural survival.
I could go on.
Wonder if he will ever be a guest on Larry King Live?…again.
PATHETIC!
Anony, I flew for a small FBO in cottonwood. I’ve flown hundreds of liberal moon bats, and “like I’m all” types to the Sedona Airport. I’ve heard in flight conversations that would stagger the reasonable mind. Sedona is a playground for the crystal worshipers, and other intellectual luminaries of that ilk.
Never challenge the grandfathers (the stones) they will beat you every time! . It clearly shows that this ceremony was designed to challenge the heat, the rocks and the fire. This voilates all teachings regarding the black lodge ceremony. You go to pray and to get close to mother earth. It teaches you many things that life is hard and it’s the little things in life that make you happy. It humbles you! Sweats are not made to challenge each other or the grandfathers. When you do that I was told someone will get hurt and in this case many did and some died whoever ran this sweat many bad things will happen. Thats how these things work. And the doorman as well. I feel for these folks the sweat is no place for experiments or whatever the goal was. I’ve never seen such a big lodge before and that in itself shows to be whoever built it did not get permission to build it or maybe they did. I can’t see any elder saying yeah looks good nice and big world record for the biggest lodge ever. And then to charge money for this ceremony. This tragedy does not suprise me one bit. Who in the hell ran this sweat? Who in the hell was at the door? I sweat at least once a week for many years and cannot understand this. Ya’ll did’nt know what hell you were doing. Just plain stupidity. It’s a native ceremony. You can’t just build one cause you like what it does. You need input from an elder or a family rep. that offer these things they’ll tell you what to do and what not to do and if it’s ok that we use their ceremony. they’ll let you borrow it but you’ll have to follow their rules. PLus it takes years before you can run one. Jezz crazy man just crazy.
Sweat lodges are a safer version of sniffing gas. Both make you confused, euphoric, and ill, but the gas usually kills you and the sweat lodge usually doesn’t. It’s very sad what happened to those people.
This is to bad . I have issue with someone charging high dollar for spiritual experience, and then being irresponsible with lives and purpose. You need to respect the elements of the ceremony.
Using a sauna, or “sweat lodge”, can be an intensely therapeutic experience, when done properly.
Excess heat, however, especially when combined with dehydration can be very, very dangerous. This is why people who are consuming alcohol are discouraged from using a sauna, steam room, or hot tub.
It is also what makes the claims (especially from those new infrared sauna manufacturers) of losing weight in a sauna so concerning. Any weight lost in a sauna is only water weight, and can quickly lead to life threatening dehydration.
Saunas are great, many people swear by them, but they need to be used with caution and care. Drink a lot of fluids, limit your bathing time, and if you feel ill, at all, leave the sauna immediately!
Kirby had lived in Baja California for the last 10 years and was very aclimatized to HOT!! This is so sad……….we miss her.
I have participated in many sweat lodge ceremonies, conducted by different individuals and served by many different doormen. The cost? – an offering of tobacco. The results? – increasing spiritual, mental, and emotional growth within a community of people who respect the ceremonies and rituals involved. An enriched life with guidance from the grandmothers and grandfathers always readily at hand, as long as I ask.
Mr. Ray, the doorkeeper and all who set up this travesty have shown the greatest disrespect to ancient teachings. Yet, if they offered tobacco to a true sweat lodge keeper with genuine humility, they would be able to have a true experience.
To all the participants, I would like to say continue your search. But start with a heartfelt offer of tobacco to the grandfathers and a simple request – show me.
Our prayers go out to those who suffered and their families. Sweat lodges are a very important part of my sobriety and serrnity so i pray for all who attend lodges. May they all be as safe as the one I attend.
http://www.soberliving.com/blog/2009/08/11/sweating-in-sobriety-by-jay-rau
Farewell to Alcohol
“You have been the longest running dysfunctional relationship of my life. You were present from my earliest memories, when as a toddler; I finished each of the highball glasses left after my parents’ parties. Later you carried me through all our family events; champagne in crystal flutes, white wine with every meal, liqueurs after dinner. Alcohol, you sat with us at the place of honor, at the head of the table, ruling our household and destroying our family invisibly from within.”
Go to Alcohol Rehab Centers: “Farewell to Alcohol” OR http://goo.gl/XLQiE to read more.”
Leave A Reply