Guide to textiles that defy the summer heat
Heat puts the body under a great deal of strain, which can sometimes take on dangerous proportions - especially for older people. The Hohenstein Institute have produced a consumer guide for functional clothing.
People over 60 years of age, people with lung disease, and people suffering from obesity, high blood pressure, long-term diabetes or cardiovascular disease are at increased risk of heat-related illness during prolonged heat waves. This can lead to anything from heat stroke and collapse to death. Precisely because these risk groups can only adapt to the heat more slowly, they need help and relief measures. These include, above all, the healthy handling of textiles.
How does the body react physiologically under heat?
In heat, the body releases heat not only by sweating through the skin, but also through the lungs - the respiratory rate increases slightly. In COPD patients, however, whose lungs are already severely damaged by the disease, this heat transport is restricted. For seniors, too, heat can quickly cause problems and worsen the disease. The body's heat protection decreases with age, circulatory problems occur more frequently than in young people, and fluid balance gets out of whack more quickly, especially if seniors have heart problems or high blood pressure.
The Hohenstein Institute from D-74357 Bönnigheim, Germany, has developed an Consumer guide with textile behavior and protection measures as well as recommendations for clothing, which also includes the latest physiological findings of the so-called "body mapping" take into account.
