PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New study validates lower limits of human heat tolerance

How much can our bodies adapt to a hotter and more humid planet?

2025-03-31
(Press-News.org)

A study from the University of Ottawa’s Human and Environmental Physiology Research Unit (HEPRU) has confirmed that the limits for human thermoregulation—our ability to maintain a stable body temperature in extreme heat—are lower than previously thought.

This research, led by Dr. Robert D. Meade, former Senior Postdoctoral Fellow and Dr. Glen Kenny, Director of HEPRU and professor of physiology at uOttawa's Faculty of Health Sciences, highlights the urgent need to address the impacts of climate change on human health.

The study found that many regions may soon experience heat and humidity levels that exceed the safe limits for human survival. "Our research provided important data supporting recent suggestions that the conditions under which humans can effectively regulate their body temperature are actually much lower than earlier models suggested," states Kenny. "This is critical information as we face increasing global temperatures."

Utilizing a widely used technique known as thermal-step protocols, Meade and his team exposed 12 volunteers to various heat and humidity conditions to identify the point at which thermoregulation becomes impossible. What made this study different, was that participants returned to the laboratory for a daylong exposure to conditions just above their estimated limit for thermoregulation. Participants were subjected to extreme conditions, 42°C with 57% humidity, representing a humidex of approximately 62°C. “The results were clear. The participants’ core temperature streamed upwards unabated, and many participants were unable to finish the 9-hour exposure. These data provide the first direct validation of thermal step protocols, which have been used to estimate upper limits for thermoregulation for nearly 50 years”, says Meade.

"Our findings especially timely, given estimated limits for thermoregulation are being increasingly incorporated into large scale climate modelling” explains Meade. "They also underscore the physiological strain experienced during prolonged exposure to extreme heat, which is becoming more common due to climate change."

The implications of this research extend beyond academia. As cities prepare for hotter summers, understanding these limits can help guide health policies and public safety measures. "By integrating physiological data with climate models, we hope to better predict and prepare for heat-related health issues," adds Kenny.

As the world grapples with the realities of climate change, this research aims to spark important conversations about our safety and adaptability in increasingly extreme environments.

For more information, read the study titled “Validating new limits for human thermoregulation”, published in the Journal PNAS.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

UTA takes lead with mobile lab to address rural health care crisis

UTA takes lead with mobile lab to address rural health care crisis
2025-03-31
Texas has the most rural residents of any state, with nearly 3 million people spread across a vast landscape. If rural Texas were its own state, it would rank as the 36th most populous. Yet, rural Texans face significant barriers to health care that their urban counterparts do not. More than a quarter of the state’s 172 rural counties lack a hospital, and those with at least one hospital often struggle with a shortage of qualified health care personnel, such as nurses and first responders. To address these growing challenges, The University of Texas at Arlington introduced its new Mobile Simulation Lab on Friday. It’s the first in Texas dedicated ...

New flexible hydrogel could improve drug delivery for post-traumatic osteoarthritis treatment

2025-03-31
Post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) is a condition that affects joints after an injury. Current treatments focus on relieving symptoms but do not prevent or stop the progression of the condition. Although emerging therapies have shown promise in preclinical studies, a major obstacle is delivering these therapies effectively into the joint, a highly dynamic environment subjected to constant mechanical stress. Researchers at Mass General Brigham have created a new hydrogel to improve drug delivery for treating PTOA. The hydrogel, ...

Association for Molecular Pathology celebrates U.S. District Court’s decision to vacate FDA rule on laboratory-developed test procedure regulation

2025-03-31
ROCKVILLE, Md. – March 31, 2025 – The Association for Molecular Pathology, the premier global molecular diagnostic professional society, and pathologist Michael Laposata​, M.D.​​​​, Ph.D., today​​ announced a favorable ruling in their lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over the regulation of laboratory-developed test procedures. The ruling by Judge Sean D. Jordan of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted AMP’s motion for summary judgment ...

Dr. Christopher Kramer is new American College of Cardiology President

Dr. Christopher Kramer is new American College of Cardiology President
2025-03-31
Christopher M. Kramer, MD, FACC, today assumed the role of president of the American College of Cardiology, an almost 60,000-member global cardiovascular organization working to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health for all. “I see significant challenges and opportunities for the field of cardiology in the coming years, including workforce issues, health equity, diversity and inclusion, and AI-driven solutions, that need to be addressed to achieve ACC’s mission of transforming cardiovascular care for all,” ...

Dr. David Winchester is new Chair of ACC Board of Governors

2025-03-31
Effective today, David E. Winchester, MD, MS, FACC, will serve as chair of the American College of Cardiology Board of Governors (BOG) and secretary of the Board of Trustees. His term will run one year from 2025-2026. Winchester will lead governors from chapters representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and representatives from the U.S. health services. The BOG serves as the grassroots governing body of the ACC, a leading cardiovascular organization representing over 56,000 cardiovascular care team members around the world. “Being Chair of the Board ...

4:3 Intermittent fasting shows modestly greater weight loss than daily caloric restriction

2025-03-31
Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 31 March 2025    Follow @Annalsofim on X, Facebook, Instagram, threads, and Linkedin         Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own behalf, but ...

Patient navigators improve colonoscopy rates after abnormal stool tests, study shows

Patient navigators improve colonoscopy rates after abnormal stool tests, study shows
2025-03-31
TUCSON, Arizona — A University of Arizona Health Sciences-led study found that patients are more likely to get colonoscopies following abnormal stool test results if patient navigators assist them through the process. The paper, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, showed that 55% of patients who were assigned to a patient navigator received follow-up colonoscopies within a year compared with 42.5% of patients who received usual care without a navigator. “It is important for patients with abnormal stool test results to get a colonoscopy as soon as possible to prevent an increased risk of colorectal cancer and later-stage cancer detection,” ...

New warnings of a ‘Butterfly Effect’ — in reverse

2025-03-31
Contact: Bess Connolly, 203-432-1324 or elizabeth.connolly@yale.edu   New Haven, Conn. — A Yale-led study warns that global climate change may have a devastating effect on butterflies, turning their species-rich, mountain habitats from refuges into traps.   Think of it as the “butterfly effect” — the idea that something as small as the flapping of a butterfly’s wings can eventually lead to a major event such as a hurricane — in reverse.   The new study, published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, ...

Scientists solve “cocktail party” mystery of bat echolocation

Scientists solve “cocktail party” mystery of bat echolocation
2025-03-31
Aya Goldshtein, Omer Mazar, and Yossi Yovel have spent many evenings standing outside bat caves. Even so, seeing thousands of bats erupting out of a cave and flapping into the night, sometimes in densities so high that they appear liquid, astounds the scientists every time. But until recently, the bat biologists were even more baffled by what they didn’t see. “The bats don’t run into each other,” says Goldshtein from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, “even in colonies of ...

USC Stem Cell mouse study identifies shared genes involved in hearing and vision regeneration

USC Stem Cell mouse study identifies shared genes involved in hearing and vision regeneration
2025-03-31
The same genes could hold the key to regenerating cells in the ear and eye, according to a new mouse study from the USC Stem Cell laboratory of Ksenia Gnedeva, PhD, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). “The proliferation of progenitor cells in response to injury is a crucial step in the regeneration of sensory receptors, but this process is blocked in the mammalian inner ear and retina. By understanding the genes that enforce this block, we can advance efforts to restore hearing and vision in patients,” said Gnedeva, an assistant professor in the USC Tina and Rick Caruso Department of Otolaryngology ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Sensing sickness

Cost to build multifamily housing in California more than twice as high as in Texas

Program takes aim at drinking, unsafe sex, and sexual assault on college campuses

Inability to pay for healthcare reaches record high in U.S.

Science ‘storytelling’ urgently needed amid climate and biodiversity crisis

KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision​

Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

Doubling down on metasurfaces

New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders

Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana

PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation

ICRAFT breakthrough: Unlocking A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy

How VR technology is changing the game for Alzheimer’s disease

A borrowed bacterial gene allowed some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet

Balance between two competing nerve proteins deters symptoms of autism in mice

Use of antifungals in agriculture may increase resistance in an infectious yeast

Awareness grows of cancer risk from alcohol consumption, survey finds

The experts that can outsmart optical illusions

Pregnancy may reduce long COVID risk

[Press-News.org] New study validates lower limits of human heat tolerance
How much can our bodies adapt to a hotter and more humid planet?