Ebola virus disease
Rising Heat: How Scorching Weather Affects The Body And What You Can Do About It
SINGAPORE - The searing heat of the sun and thick cloak of humidity have turned Singapore into an oven in recent days – but things could get more uncomfortable in the next couple of months.
The weatherman has warned that April and May, already among the hottest months of the year, could get even warmer due to the lingering impact of the El Nino phenomenon, which causes drier, hotter weather over South-east Asia. El Nino conditions have gripped Singapore since the second half of 2023, and while they are expected to taper off soon, experts have warned that the phenomenon is unlikely to fizzle out quietly.
Warmer temperatures, coupled with intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun on cloudless days, could well turn the country into an inferno.
With multiple studies showing how heat and glare can affect human health and well-being, The Straits Times breaks down the science behind the myriad of ways that the body responds to the rising mercury, and the tools available to beat the heat.
Body scan Risks of being under the weather HeatstrokeThis is the most fatal heat illness. It occurs when the body can no longer control its core temperature, which can spike to 40 deg C or higher.
Beating the heat Heed the advisoryIf someone shows heat injury symptoms such as muscle cramp, nausea or disorientation:
Sources: GLOBAL HEAT HEALTH INFORMATION NETWORK, PROJECT HEATSAFE, MAYO CLINIC, CLEVELAND CLINIC, JASON LEE, ABDUL MUHAIMIN ABDUL RAHMAN
Just 15 Minutes Of Exercise Can Boost Your Immune System: Here's How
New research has found that just 15 minutes of exercise can improve your immune function.
The findings, which are being presented at the American Physiology Summit in Long Beach, CA this week, discovered that short bursts of physical activity increase the production of natural killer (NK) cells, which are a type of white blood cell that fight infected and cancerous cells in the body.
The study has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
This isn't the first study to link exercise to higher levels of NK cells in the bloodstream. Plus, the number of NK cells appears to increase mere minutes after engaging in physical activity.
The researchers say the new findings add to the growing pile of evidence that targeting NK cells in the body may provide better protection against infections and diseases.
"These new results suggest shorter bouts of exercise are enough to activate the immune system and increase the body's natural killer cells in blood circulation," Michael Fredericson, MD, a professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Stanford Medicine, told Healthline.
Fredericson is not involved in the study.
The small study involved 10 participants between the ages of 18 and 40.
Each participant was instructed to ride a stationary bicycle for 30 minutes at moderate-level intensity.
The researchers drew blood samples from the participants before they started cycling and again at the 15 and 30-minute mark.
They found that levels of NK cells increased after 15 minutes of cycling, but did not continue to increase after 30 minutes of activity.
According to the researchers, this suggests that exercising for around 15 minutes substantially boosts NK cells, which may provide meaningful protection against diseases.
Unlike other aspects of the immune system, NK cells do not require previous exposure to a pathogen to identify and attack it.
"Natural Killer cells are white blood cells that help destroy infected and diseased cells, such as cancer cells," explains Fredericson.
NK cells are constantly on the lookout for malignant cells and a lot of NK cells in the body may improve prognosis in various types of cancer. For example, one report found that the number of NK cells in the body was positively associated with survival in people with colorectal cancer.
According to Tracy Zaslow, MD, a board-certified pediatrician and pediatric and adult primary care sports medicine specialist at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, the body temperature rises during and right after exercise.
Most bacteria and viruses thrive at a normal body temperature and the heat can make it harder for them to survive, similarly to what happens with a fever.
Physical activity also reduces stress.
"Lower levels of stress hormones may provide some protection against illnesses," says Zaslow.
This, in turn, can protect emotional well-being and decrease mental health issues like depression and anxiety.
"Stress and depression can lead to chronic inflammation impacting the body's ability to fight infections," Zaslow said.
Exercise improves sleep quality and duration, and it's been shown that a good night's sleep is a crucial component for optimal immune function, she added.
Finally, exercise can alleviate the harmful effects caused by free radicals and prevent oxidative stress — both of which contribute to chronic health conditions.
The takeaway, according to the researchers, is that even short bursts of moderate-intensity exercise may come with great health benefits.
"Fifteen minutes of exercise is more doable for the general population and could motivate individuals to incorporate regular, brief exercise sessions into their daily routine, boosting their immune function," says Fredericson.
Breaking your workouts into shorter bouts may be just as effective as engaging in longer exercise sessions, Fredericson added.
His advice: Any moderate-vigorous exercise will help boost your immune function and it's important to find activities you enjoy and will be able to do regularly.
Some options include brisk walking at a pace of 2.5 miles per hour, dancing, water aerobics, tennis, biking, and gardening.
Hiking, jogging, jumping rope, climbing stairs, and swimming are effective choices, too.
The goal is to feel challenged, so you're breathing harder than you typically do, but not completely exhausted.
Keep in mind that there can be too much of a good thing, says Zaslow.
Prolonged bouts of intense exercise can suppress the immune system, and it's crucial to let your body rest between workouts.
"The key is to create thoughtful exercise programs that enable regular physical activity while incorporating appropriate rest and recovery," Zaslow said.
New research has found that just 15 minutes of exercise can improve your immune function. Short bursts of physical activity increase the production of natural killer (NK) cells, which are a type of white blood cell that fight infected and cancerous cells in the body. This may help provide better protection against infections and diseases.
Function Of Fever:
When a child or parent becomes feverish with shivers, chills, and sweats, our first thought is to get the temperature down. Pharmacies sell billions of fever-reducing pills like aspirin and acetaminophen every year, and schools often insist that students stay home until their fever is gone.
But is this "fever phobia" backed up by science?
Increasingly, medical researchers are discovering that fever has endured in mammals and other creatures for good reasons, though the reasons why are not clear. Often, a fever in response to an infection is actually a reflection of the body's defenses going into high gear. Some parts of the immune system work better at a higher temperature, which strengthens resistance to infection and increases the odds of survival.
The new thinking is that mild fever can be a positive adaptation and shouldn't necessarily be treated. At other times, though, fever may spur the microbes' growth rate by raising the temperature of the host body. In this case, the attackers have evolved a way to chemically manipulate the host's immune system for their own advantage. And a high fever is a danger sign, especially in young children.
What is this mysterious phenomenon, fever? It's not simply a rise in body temperature. It is an upward shift in the body's "set point," or core temperature, which is regulated by the hypothalamus in the brain. In response to an infection, the body releases chemicals that cause a sensation of being cold. The hypothalamus then raises the set point by making the body burn fat, reduce blood flow to the skin, and shiver.
Most of the time, fever isn't dangerous in itself, but a patient will feel more comfortable at a lower temperature. In a dramatic demonstration of fever's benefits, researcher Matthew Kluger infected desert iguanas with bacteria.
Because these lizards are cold-blooded, they could only warm their bodies by seeking outside heat -- in this case, sunlamps. All except one of 13 iguanas sought the warmth to raise their temperatures, and those 12 survived; the other one died.
After that, Kluger injected 12 other iguanas with live bacteria, and also gave them a fever-fighting drug. Five of them failed to develop a fever, and died as a result. The other seven, which somehow became feverish despite the drug, survived.
Despite experiments like this, scientists haven't yet answered all their questions about this common and ancient body symptom.
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