BACKGROUND Heat stroke is an illness with a high risk of mortality or morbidity, which can occur in the young and fit (exertional heat stroke) as well as the elderly and infirm (nonexertional heat stroke). In the United States, from 2006 to 2010, there were at least 3332 deaths attributed to heat stroke. OBJECTIVE To summarize the available evidence on the principal cooling methods used in th...

Heat and heat waves are projected to increase in severity and frequency with increasing global mean temperatures. Studies in urban areas show an association between increases in mortality and increases in heat, measured by maximum or minimum temperature, heat index, and sometimes, other weather conditions. Health effects associated with exposure to extreme and prolonged heat appear to be relate...

Acidified feeding formulas have been proposed as a method of controlling gastrointestinal colonization and nosocomial infection in critically ill patients. We examined possible mechanisms by which chronic acid water feeding might protect the host against lethal gut derived sepsis by assessing its effect on both local intestinal epithelial barrier function to bacteria as well as on local and sys...

On October 22-23, 2008, an ACSM Roundtable was convened at the Uniformed Services University (Bethesda, MD) to discuss return-to-play or return-to-duty for people who have experienced exertional heat illness (EHI) and to develop consensus-based recommendations. The conference assembled experts from the civilian sports medicine community and the Department of Defense to discuss relevant EHI issu...

This investigation examined whether low sodium (Na+) (LNA; 68 mEq Na+.d-1) or moderate Na+ (MNA; 137 mEq Na+.d-1) intake allowed humans to maintain health, exercise, and physiologic function during 10 days of prolonged exercise-heat acclimation (HA). Seventeen volunteers, ages 19 to 21, consumed either LNA (n = 8) or MNA (n = 9) during HA (41 degrees C, 21% RH; treadmill walking for 30 min.h-1,...

This symposium focuses on exertional heatstroke, with emphasis on predisposing factors, clinical observations, diagnosis, treatment and recovery. The serious challenge to cardiovascular stability presented by exercise hyperthermia and some aspects of regulatory failure was reviewed in the introduction. The intent of this review, to understand how heat stress is translated into heat strain at th...

A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted using 1,071 newborn calves from 6 commercial dairy farms in Minnesota and Wisconsin, with the primary objective being to describe the effects of feeding heat-treated colostrum on serum immunoglobulin G concentration and health in the preweaning period. A secondary objective was to complete a path analysis to identify intermediate factors that...

OBJECTIVE To describe the current scientific evidence of recovery and return to activity following exertional heat stroke (EHS). DATA SOURCES Information was collected using MEDLINE and SPORTDiscus databases in English using combinations of key words, exertional heat stroke, recovery, rehabilitation, residual symptoms, heat tolerance, return to activity, and heat illness. STUDY SELECTION Re...

Urban residents are at risk of health-related illness during extreme heat events but the dangers are not equal in all parts of a city. Previous studies have found a relationship between physical characteristics of neighborhoods and the number of emergency medical response (EMR) calls. We used a human energy budget model to test the effects of landscape modifications that are designed to cool th...