People suffer heat-related illness when their bodies are unable to compensate and properly cool themselves. The body normally cools itself by sweating, but under some conditions, sweating just is not enough. In such cases, a person's body temperature rises rapidly, and very high body temperatures may damage the brain or other vital organs.
In addition to exacerbating certain preexisting health conditions, overexposure to excessive heat can cause heat stroke, sunstroke, heat collapse, heat cramps and heat exhaustion due to water depletion or salt depletion.
Those at greatest risk for heat-related illness include young children (under 4 years of age), persons 65 and older, persons who are overweight and persons who are ill or on certain medications.
Continuous temperature monitoring can play a key role in a number of human health and leisure activities, including:
Temperature monitoring is the most precise tool for pacing and determining intensity during physical activity because it is not affected by emotional stimuli. (Unlike heart rate, temperature cannot be voluntarily increased.)
Every year millions of athletes suffer from reduced performance and heat injury due to overheating, leading even to unnecessary deaths.
In 2005, the US Track and Field Road Running Information Center reported that there are 37.8 million runners in the United States. Every year, countless runners -- and Americans overall -- suffer heat-related illnesses. There were 3,442 fatalities due to heat from 1999 to 2003.
There is an urgent need for temperature monitoring during outdoor sports, particularly with the aging generations who want to continue their active lifestyles of tennis, running, golf and other outdoor activities.
