Hyperthermia: New Thoughts on an Old Problem.

In brief: This article reviews the causes and treatment of the common heat illnesses-heat syncope, heat exhaustion, and exertional heatstroke. The authors discuss the effectiveness of cooling heatstroke victims in ice water vs water that has been cooled to a temperature of 15° C. The latter method is more practical and has been found as effective as cooling with ice water. The authors also present the energy depletion model, which shows the cycle that results in reduced exercise/heat tolerance and significant morbidity and mortality in victims of exercise-induced hyperthermia. This model predicts that cellular/metabolic processes and deficits operate for some time after hyperthermia has subsided with cooling.