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Identification of Critical Thermal Environments for Aged Adults

Award Number: R01AG067471
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/15/2020
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 02/28/2025

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Identification of Critical Thermal Environments for Aged Adults - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This proposal directly addresses, in a uniquely innovative and direct approach, the stated goal of FAO PAR-19- 250: To better understand “exposure of the older person to changing environmental hazards in their daily environment that raises their risks”. Men and women over the age of 65 are the most vulnerable population during severe environmental heat events. While we know a lot about age-related declines in physiological responses to environmental heat stress, there are key critical gaps in our understanding of the impact of extreme weather on aging human populations as well as in ways to positively intervene. The present project adds practical information: 1) by determining the integrated thermoregulatory response of men and women over the age of 65 yrs to a wide variety of adverse environments and 2) by identifying the specific environments that have significant adverse impact on older adults. The research approach will yield directly translatable results that can be used for evidence-based alert communication, policy decisions, triage for impending heat events, and implementation of other safety interventions. We will test the global hypothesis that aging will shift critical environmental limits to a narrower range of safe environments across the psychometric spectrum (encompassing warm-humid to hot-dry environments). The present proposal logically builds on our 30-year body of mechanistic research on thermoregulation and aging and our experience in executing this unique research paradigm. In Specific Aim 1 we propose to identify those environmental limits above which age-related physiological changes cause uncompensable heat stress, resulting in heat storage and increasing the risk of heat illness. As appropriate based on the data, distinct psychrometric limits will be derived for older men and older women. We hypothesize that aging will decrease critical environmental heat balance limits, particularly in warm-dry environments due to impairments in sweating mechanisms. In Specific Aim 2 we will calculate critical evaporative coefficients and wet-bulb globe temperature isotherms that can be used to predict environmental conditions that are uncompensable, and therefore increase health risks for older men and women. These coefficients can subsequently be used to predict responses of older adults to a wider set of environmental parameters (solar load, wind, etc.). Finally, we propose one additional exploratory Aim. Our laboratory has identified additional detrimental effects of over-the-counter and commonly prescribed platelet inhibitors on thermoregulation in older men and women. We have previously described how aspirin (ASA) and prescription platelet inhibitors (clopidogrel; Plavix®) further accelerate the rise in body core temperature in warm environmental conditions and impairs heat loss mechanisms. Therefore, we propose to also determine the effects of ASA on age-specific critical environmental limits, hypothesizing that these drugs will further decrease the critical environmental heat balance limits, particularly in hot humid conditions due to impairments in dry heat loss mechanisms (Specific Aim 3).


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $706,203 )
2024	2024	THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY	201 OLD MAIN	UNIVERSITY PARK	PA	16802	CENTRE	USA	Aging Research	000	5	4/25/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$706,203
														Subtotal = $706,203

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $720,896 )
2023	2023	PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE	201 OLD MAIN	UNIVERSITY PARK	PA	16802	CENTRE	USA	Aging Research	000	4	2/17/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$720,896
														Subtotal = $720,896

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $727,066 )
2022	2022	PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE	201 OLD MAIN	UNIVERSITY PARK	PA	16802	CENTRE	USA	Aging Research	001	3	6/13/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$72,708
2022	2022	PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE	201 OLD MAIN	UNIVERSITY PARK	PA	16802	CENTRE	USA	Aging Research	000	3	2/25/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$654,358
														Subtotal = $727,066

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $742,400 )
2021	2021	PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE	201 OLD MAIN	UNIVERSITY PARK	PA	16802	CENTRE	USA	Aging Research	000	2	3/4/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$742,400
2021	2021	PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE	201 OLD MAIN	UNIVERSITY PARK	PA	16802	CENTRE	USA	Aging Research	001	2	8/12/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $742,400

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $756,846 )
2020	2020	PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE	201 OLD MAIN	UNIVERSITY PARK	PA	16802	CENTRE	USA	Aging Research	000	1	5/8/2020	NEW	$756,846
														Subtotal = $756,846

Grand Total All Awards = $3,653,411

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Identification of Critical Thermal Environments for Aged Adults

Award Number: R01AG067471

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/15/2020

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 02/28/2025

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