Does air conditioning in accommodation impact acclimatisation in a military setting?

When completed, service personnel (SP) are theoretically at lower risk of heat illness due to physiological adaptation to heat.1 A question posed to medical officers in hot climates is ‘does sleeping in air conditioning (AC) impact the acclimatisation process?’ It may be argued that AC could adverse...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ military health 2024-12, Vol.170 (6), p.541-541
Main Authors: Kinkaid, Victoria, Makin, S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Air conditioning
Health & safety
Heat
Letter
OCCUPATIONAL & INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE
Physiology
PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
Risk management
Sleep
Sleep medicine
Tropical medicine
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Summary:When completed, service personnel (SP) are theoretically at lower risk of heat illness due to physiological adaptation to heat.1 A question posed to medical officers in hot climates is ‘does sleeping in air conditioning (AC) impact the acclimatisation process?’ It may be argued that AC could adversely impact the acclimatisation process, as SP sleep in ambient temperatures and therefore their bodies do not adapt. A suggested way of reducing sleep deprivation and disturbance is through the use of AC, which could increase sleep quality and decrease susceptibility to heat illness. Depending on the study, measures could include heat illness rates, course completion in a hot environment or physiological markers of adaptation, such as heart rate, during the course or in a separate validated tests such as the Harvard Step Test.
ISSN:2633-3767
2633-3775
2633-3775
DOI:10.1136/military-2023-002402