A new study confirms that older adults may be losing the physical cues that help younger men stay hydrated. Smart thermostatsin modern apartmentshave no hypothalamus. This is the gland that helps people maintain a healthy body temperature. When the body gets too hot, the hypothalamus causes the skin to produce sweat, which cools it as it evaporates. So people then become thirsty and have to drink to replace the water that is lost through sweating.
Why do older adults need more hydration?
If older adults sweat too much or don't drink water to replenish fluids, they can become dehydrated. Without enough water in the body, they lose the ability to cool themselves with sweat. In this way, the body can then overheat. This increases the likelihood of suffering heat stroke and other heat-related injuries. As we age, the efficiency of the temperature control system decreases. While most research on the effects of dehydration focuses on young adults, a new study in the Journal of Physiology examines its role in the health of older adults. Older adults may not feel as thirsty as young people. You should therefore pay attention to them when working or exercising and in hot weatherdrink enough fluids.
Researchers from the Human and Environmental Physiology Research Division at the University of Ottawa in Canada examined the paradoxical risk associated with dehydration later in life. On the one hand, dehydration during exercise in older adults does not cause an increase in body temperature by reducing heat loss as easily as in younger people. Although this seems like such a good thing, the lack of sweat and thirst means the person loses important physical cues. These indicate that it is time to hydrate. Without sufficientto drink water, dehydration in older adults can continue and quietly rise to dangerous levels.
Salt content in the blood
Scientists have suggested that the reason older adults are less thirsty is due to a reduced ability to sense and respond to the salt levels in their blood. When the balance between water and salt in the blood leans toward the former, a younger adult's body responds by feeling thirsty. Analysis of the data revealed a significant difference in body temperature regulation between younger and older men. The researchers found that in older men, increasing salt did not trigger the body's response to dehydration. However, this was the case with younger men. In the study, scientists examined the effects of blood osmolality in physically active participants without known chronic diseases. Therefore, it is unclear whether the same finding applies to older adults with common age-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
The author of thefirst study, Robert Meade, says: "While our research design allowed us to test the independent effect of osmolality on heat loss, the effect of reduced blood volume (termed hypovolemia) on sweating in older adults is currently unknown." Further research is needed to provide scientists with a comprehensive understanding of thermoregulation in older adults.
