Sweating is the most powerful way your body can remove heat. (Representative)
Lancaster, United Kingdom:
As the heat wave begins to hit the UK and the heat health alert Indeed, people are looking for ways to cool off and reduce the risk of heatstroke – the most serious form of hyperthermia, with a body temperature exceeding 40°C.
Older adults, those with underlying health problems and the very young are most at risk. Part of this arises because The young and older people have less efficient body systems for dissipating body heat.
Older people retain heat more than younger people because their sweat glands do not work too and their hearts don’t circulate blood as efficiently, so less heat is lost through the skin.
Sweating is the most powerful way your body can remove heat. As sweat evaporates, it takes heat with it. In heat, people can produce between half and two liters of sweat per hour.
At temperatures where the air temperature is above body temperature, heat can be transferred from the air to the body, which produces an additional challenge in removing heat from the body.
In addition to sweating, the other important way we lose heat is vasodilation (a widening of blood vessels) in peripheral tissues. In extreme heat, the skin can receive between six and eight liters of blood per minute to help move heat away from central organs.
Much of the way the body responds is to move heat away from major organs and the central nervous system to keep the temperature as low as possible. close to 37°C possible.
Although sweating and vasodilation are effective, they are limited – especially when temperatures remain high for several days.
The best ways to reduce temperature are those that support the body’s existing mechanisms for removing heat.
Apply cold things to the body
Applying cold water or a cool, damp sponge to the skin is effective in removing heat from the body. This is beneficial in people with limited mobility and older adults.
Anyone who can can take a cold shower or bath. Evidence suggests that water that is around 26 or 27°C is ideal. It’s cold enough to take heat away from your body, but not cold enough to cause you to shiver, which will generate heat. (Immersion in very cold water can also cause cold shock.)
Studies analyzing the 2003 French heat wave have shown that cooling (using a mister, cool or cold bath or shower, sponge bath, mechanical fan, or air conditioning) can be beneficial It is prevented heat-related deaths.
Ice or cold compresses (a damp towel or cloth work perfectly) can be applied to the body. O groin, armpit, neck, forehead, wrists and trunk are areas that have many blood vessels close to the surface. The cooled blood can then return to major organs to reduce core temperature.
Ice or ice packs should be wrapped in a towel or something similar avoid burning your skin. Cycling them in and out of the body every ten minutes reduces the risk of injury.
Partially filling the hot water bottle and placing it in the freezer to use at bedtime, or placing the pillowcases in a plastic bag and in the freezer to cool them at bedtime can also help at night.
Fans
A recent study showed that fans can improve the evaporation of sweat from the body, but not significantly enough to help reduce core body temperature. And this becomes even lower when the ambient temperature rises above 33°C, or for elderly people and people with reduced sweating capacity.
Hot and cold drinks
Evidence from high-performance athletes exercising in temperatures of 28°C has shown that fluids cooled to refrigerator temperature were better at reducing core temperature than ice or temperature-neutral liquids at 37°C.
Drinking hot drinks activates the body’s cooling mechanism, but this will remove much needed fluid If you haven’t had enough to drink, then cold drinks are probably best in this situation.
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All of these things are more effective in a cooler shaded area to increase the temperature gradient between the body and ambient temperature. If you try to do this in the sun, they are likely to be less effective as the ambient air is hotter in the sun, meaning there is less ability to remove the heat or it happens more slowly.
Overall, however, the evidence suggests immersion in water (ice) is the most effective way to cool down – which at home is most easily done by dipping your feet or hands in a bowl of cold water. Immersion in water is how many animals in hot climates and climates reduce body temperature staying in the water, so it is also a good technique for humans.
But if you can’t do that, evaporation (mist and fan) is the second most effective.
(Author:Adam TaylorProfessor and Director of the Clinical Anatomy Learning Center, Lancaster University)
(Disclosure statement:Adam Taylor does not work for, consult with, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond his academic appointment)
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