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27 August 2004
One of the biggest worries for athletes at the 2004 Athens Olympics is that they will not be able to compete at their best levels due to the excessive heat.
Dr Douglas Bovell at Glasgow Caledonian University leads one only two scientific teams in the world working specifically on the investigation of sweat glands one of our essential mechanisms for keeping cool.
Dr Bovell, from the Universitys School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences said:
"The effects of heatstroke can be devastating in the sporting arena, causing nausea, dizziness and diarrhoea. With temperatures in Athens soaring up to 40 degrees centigrade the athletes will need to focus on temperature control.
"Drinking plenty of fluids will help hydration and allow their sweat glands to function properly, releasing moisture onto the skin as part of the bodys natural temperature regulation system."
Dr Bovell is currently being funded by chemical giants Unilever to help them pin down exactly how sweat glands function. They know that sweaty armpits equal big business with the global antiperspirant / deodorant marketcurrently estimated at 8 billion US dollars a figure that does not even take into account emerging markets.
Radical cures for sweaty palms
Dr Bovells research, conducted in conjunction with Glasgow and Stirling Royal Infirmaries, will also help sufferers of hyperhidrosis. This condition creates excessive sweat causing wet hands, feet and armpits, and affects approximately 1% of the British population.
"Cures are still somewhat radical, including invasive surgery to snip armpit nerves, chopping out patches of sweat gland skin or injecting the paralysing toxin botox into the armpits," said Dr Bovell.
It is hoped that the Glasgow Caledonian scientists studies into the structural make up of normal cells compared with over and under productive cells will enable doctors to pioneer less invasive techniques.
Dr Bovell continued: "Putting pay to the old wives tale of "sweating like a pig" humans are almost unique in their method of cooling down, as most mammals shed fur or roll in dust to alleviate problems with overheating. Human survival depends on up to 4 million sweat glands, and yet very little close investigation has been made into understanding their precise mechanisms."
Helping heat stressed horses
Vets at the Singapore Turf Club have also called on Dr Bovells expertise in a bid to help the only other mammal that uses sweat to regulate its temperature the horse. Tens of thousands of dollars are forked out every year for air-conditioned stables in humid countries as European born horses fall prey to anhidrosis (or dry coat).
A similar condition has been reported into people who move to humid climates and studies into this virtually irreversible condition may also be of value to the military where troops have to adjust rapidly to varying temperatures and humidities when posted overseas.
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