Author: Owen Jeffries

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Student projects: Effect of heat stress and dehydration on cardiac function

Amy & Rebecca are MSc students exploring the effects of dehydration on cardiac function. They have been working in the lab since January and aim to complete data collection by the end of July. Clinical Echocardiographer Prof Chris Eggett facilitated training the students in taking two specific measures using the echo ultrasound equipment and recording accurate ECG. A challenging project requiring exercise in extreme heat (40 degrees centigrade) for 3-4hrs and technically demanding taking these measures in this environment.

Amy & Rebecca both plan to travel after their MSc and may end up pursuing their interests in thermal physiology in some lab in Australia! Enjoy the travels!

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Conference: Physiology in Focus 2024

Dr Owen Jeffries chaired a session with Dr Irene Di Gulio (Kings College London) on Human exercise and environmental physiology at the recent joint Physiological Society and Scandinavian Physiological Society joint conference at Northumbria University in July 2024. A great session with some great speakers and interesting discussion exploring the recent Physiological Society’s report on Heat Resilience strategy.

Pictured below are the speakers and organising team for our small special interest group.

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New publication: Development of local and regional understanding of heat risk

Recent publication sees Dr Owen Jeffries (thermal physiologist) collaborate with Dr Stephen Blenkinsop (climate scientist) from the School of Engineering to address a recent call in the Journal of Applied Physiology regarding better alignment between the disciplines to answer the wider questions facing us as a result of a changing climate.

In this viewpoint article we discuss the need for wider collaboration to understand heat-health risks nationally, regionally, and at the local level to provide more policy-relevant extreme heat scenarios for the benefit of public health.

This work is part of a small exploratory project funded by the Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund.

You can read our full article here: https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00251.2024

The full viewpoint correspondence, which makes for really interesting reading, can also be accessed here: https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/japplphysiol.00098.2024

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Student projects: The use of wearable sensor technology to determine heat stress during fixed and intermittent exercise

Issy Davis (BS.c student) and Oliver Milard (MS.c. student) completed a project in the lab this year with two aims. Firstly they explored the effect of temperature on steady state and intermittent exercise, quantifying thermoregulatory, physiological and metabolic responses. Secondly they used new wearable technology to explore reliability in reporting body core temperature when compared to gold-standard invasive thermometry.

Oliver is pursuing his interests by looking for future PhD projects and we wish him good luck!

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Blog: La Marmotte – my heat preparation strategy

Written by Lee Ager (PhD student)

La Marmotte Granfondo Alpes (aka “the Marmotte”) is considered one of the most prestigious and challenging Granfondo events in Europe. Held annually in June in the French Alps, it is a bucket list event for many cyclists attracting close to 5000 riders from around the world. The route typically requires riders to traverse the legendary mountain passes of the Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Télégraphe, Col du Galibier and Alpe d’Huez, which frequently feature in the Tour de France. A late route change meant the 2023 edition was set to be even longer and tougher than usual, with the addition of the Col du Mollard. This resulted in a 186km route packed with over 5500m of elevation gain and topping out at a maximum altitude of 2650m (Col du Galibier).

Figure 6: Metrics of core temperature Tc* (°C) = green, ambient temperature (°C) recorded via my Garmin head unit = blue, heart rate (bpm) = red, and elevation (m) = grey, across the race duration. *Core temperature was estimated via a CORE wearable device.

Click the link below to read more about La Marmotte and how I prepared for the event with a tailored heat preparation strategy

Read more here….

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Student projects: Effect of dehydration on cardiac function

MSc student Sophie Evans completed her research project (2023) in our environmental lab exploring the effect of dehydration on cardiac function. Sophie was trained to take a number of specific measures using echocardiography by Prof Chris Eggett a clinical echocardiographer. Participants endured an exercise test in hot environmental conditions to achieve the target dehydration. We hope to further expand our insights from this project in the near future.

Good luck to Sophie who starts a PhD at Bath University this October!

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New study: Topical application of menthol and combined menthol-capsaicin creams during exercise in heat

Our latest study published in the European Journal of Sport Science on 10th May 2023. Furthers our work using menthol in hot environments by using topical creams to explore the effect on exercise tolerance, thermal perception, pain, attentional focus and thermoregulation. The study Led by Jenny Peel, a PhD student in Dr Mark Waldron’s team in Swansea, found that menthol cream demonstrated benefits in thermal perception and played an analgesic function during exercise in the heat despite no change in performance.

The article can be found here: 10.1080/17461391.2023.2211966

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Student projects: Convective air flow in extreme temperatures.

Our undergraduate students (2023) explored the effect of convective airflow on body temperature in a range of extreme environmental temperatures. They also trialed wearable technology in these extreme environments that reported core body temperature.

Harriet, James & Jack (pictured below L to R) spent several months in the environmental facilities testing a number of participants in extreme temperatures between 37 and 45 degrees C. The project generated some very interesting insight into how we tolerate extreme fluctuations in temperature.

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New study: Factors contributing to the change in thermoneutral maximal oxygen consumption after iso-intensity heat acclimation programmes

In this new study published in the European Journal of Sport Sciences we brought together a large dataset (71 participants) using historical data to explore the factors that contribute to changes in thermoneutral VO2max following heat acclimation protocols.

Eight variables were identified, however from a practical perspective reporting of thermal sensation and monitoring changes in body mass are easily accessible measures that can be used by practitioners.

The article can be found here: 10.1080/17461391.2022.2160278