Identification of Critical Thermal Environments for Aged Adults

项目摘要/摘要 这项提案以独特的创新和直接的方式直接解决粮农组织19号标准的既定目标- 250：为了更好地了解“老年人在日常生活中暴露在不断变化的环境危害中” 环境会增加他们的风险“。65岁以上的男性和女性是最脆弱的人群 在严重的环境高温事件期间。虽然我们知道很多与年龄相关的生理衰退 对环境热应激的反应，在我们对环境热应激的影响的理解中存在关键的关键差距 极端天气对老龄化人口的影响以及积极干预的方式。目前的项目 添加实用信息：1)通过确定男性和女性的综合体温调节反应 65岁以上的人对各种各样的不利环境和2)通过识别特定的 对老年人有重大不利影响的环境。研究方法将直接产生 可翻译的结果，可用于基于证据的警报通信、策略决策、 即将发生的高温事件，以及实施其他安全干预措施。我们将检验全球假说 老龄化将把关键的环境限制转移到更小范围的安全环境 心理测量谱(包括温暖潮湿到干热环境)。本提案从逻辑上讲 基于我们30年来对体温调节和衰老的机械研究，以及我们在 执行这一独特的研究范式。在具体目标1中，我们建议确定这些环境限制 超过这个年龄，与年龄相关的生理变化会导致不可补偿的热应激，导致热量储存。 并增加中暑的风险。根据数据的适当情况，不同的湿度限制将是 专为老年男性和老年女性设计。我们假设老龄化会降低临界环境热量 平衡限制，特别是在温暖干燥的环境中，由于出汗机制的损害。具体而言 目标2我们将计算临界蒸发系数和湿球温度等温线 用于预测不可补偿的环境条件，从而增加老年人的健康风险 男人和女人。这些系数随后可以用来预测老年人对更广泛的 一组环境参数(太阳能负载、风等)。最后，我们提出了一个额外的探索性目标。 我们的实验室已经确定了非处方药和常用处方药的其他有害影响 血小板抑制剂对老年男性和女性体温调节的影响。我们之前已经描述过阿司匹林如何 阿司匹林(ASA)和处方药(氯吡格雷；Plavix®)进一步加速身体核心的上升 在温暖的环境条件下的温度，并损害热损失机制。因此，我们建议 还确定了ASA对特定年龄的临界环境限制的影响，假设这些药物 将进一步降低临界环境热平衡极限，特别是在湿热条件下，由于 干热损失机制的损害(具体目标3)。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This proposal directly addresses, in a uniquely innovative and direct approach, the stated goal of FAO PAR-19- 250: To better understand “exposure of the older person to changing environmental hazards in their daily environment that raises their risks”. Men and women over the age of 65 are the most vulnerable population during severe environmental heat events. While we know a lot about age-related declines in physiological responses to environmental heat stress, there are key critical gaps in our understanding of the impact of extreme weather on aging human populations as well as in ways to positively intervene. The present project adds practical information: 1) by determining the integrated thermoregulatory response of men and women over the age of 65 yrs to a wide variety of adverse environments and 2) by identifying the specific environments that have significant adverse impact on older adults. The research approach will yield directly translatable results that can be used for evidence-based alert communication, policy decisions, triage for impending heat events, and implementation of other safety interventions. We will test the global hypothesis that aging will shift critical environmental limits to a narrower range of safe environments across the psychometric spectrum (encompassing warm-humid to hot-dry environments). The present proposal logically builds on our 30-year body of mechanistic research on thermoregulation and aging and our experience in executing this unique research paradigm. In Specific Aim 1 we propose to identify those environmental limits above which age-related physiological changes cause uncompensable heat stress, resulting in heat storage and increasing the risk of heat illness. As appropriate based on the data, distinct psychrometric limits will be derived for older men and older women. We hypothesize that aging will decrease critical environmental heat balance limits, particularly in warm-dry environments due to impairments in sweating mechanisms. In Specific Aim 2 we will calculate critical evaporative coefficients and wet-bulb globe temperature isotherms that can be used to predict environmental conditions that are uncompensable, and therefore increase health risks for older men and women. These coefficients can subsequently be used to predict responses of older adults to a wider set of environmental parameters (solar load, wind, etc.). Finally, we propose one additional exploratory Aim. Our laboratory has identified additional detrimental effects of over-the-counter and commonly prescribed platelet inhibitors on thermoregulation in older men and women. We have previously described how aspirin (ASA) and prescription platelet inhibitors (clopidogrel; Plavix®) further accelerate the rise in body core temperature in warm environmental conditions and impairs heat loss mechanisms. Therefore, we propose to also determine the effects of ASA on age-specific critical environmental limits, hypothesizing that these drugs will further decrease the critical environmental heat balance limits, particularly in hot humid conditions due to impairments in dry heat loss mechanisms (Specific Aim 3).