James Gallagher spends the day in the heat lab to see what summer heatwaves do to the body.
are being used to cool hospital patients. The UK has just had its hottest ever June.
"You will be sweating and your body's physiology is going to change quite considerably," Prof Bailey warns me.Prof Bailey leads me into his environmental chamber. It's a room-sized piece of scientific equipment that can precisely control the temperature, humidity and oxygen levels inside this airtight space.But the shiny steel walls, heavy door and tiny portholes take on new meaning in anticipation of the temperature being cranked up.
We have one quick brain test to complete - memorising a list of 30 words - and then the fans kick in. The temperature is starting to rise. Also I'm sweating - not dripping, but positively glistening - and as the sweat evaporates, that cools me down."It's not linear, it's exponential. Five degrees centigrade [more] doesn't sound much, but it really is physiologically so much more of a challenge," Prof Bailey says.
And as the blood heads to my skin, it's my brain that loses out. Blood flow goes down and so does my short-term memory."Your body is working really quite nicely to try to defend that core temperature, but of course, the numbers are suggesting you weren't the same beast at 40 degrees as you were at 21 and that's in less than an hour," says Prof Bailey.
She points out that last year, India and Pakistan were hit by a severe heatwave with both critical temperatures and high humidity. "It's definitely a 'now' problem, not a future problem," she says.
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