The Physiological Society’s event on Thermal Physiology in Health and Disease: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Applications

Colleagues at The Physiological Society are running an event on Thermal Physiology in Health and Disease: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Applications. This two-day event will take place on 3 to 4 June 2025 at Brunel University of London.

We are delighted to be partnering with the organising committee to enable our members to attend the meeting at The Physiological Society member rates. Our members will need to request a discount code by emailing events@physoc.org to be entitled to the discounted registration fees.

In an era of global demographic shifts towards an aging population and declining adherence to physical activity guidelines, the exploration of thermal interventions has become timely.

Thermal interventions, encompassing water baths, saunas, and specialized cooling or heating garments and equipment, elicit a diverse array of human physiological responses. Several of these responses closely mirror those observed during physical exercise. Thermal interventions may therefore serve as an alternative or adjunct to exercise in those unwilling or unable to be physically active and address marked declines in physical health and well-being, including managing chronic inflammation, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic disorders.

Despite emerging evidence of the benefits of thermal interventions, the research community is also salient to the potential risk to health of increased or decreased body temperature and the benefits of thermal interventions should be balanced against this. Relatedly, global temperatures are increasing, as are the frequency and intensity of heat waves. Therefore understanding the mechanisms associated with heat illness and inflammation is of growing relevance for vulnerable populations during daily living, and otherwise healthy populations undertaking exercise/physical activity in the heat.

This meeting will focus on the mechanistic and applied role of thermal physiology in health and disease. Day one will emphasise the body’s responses to thermal stress including respiratory and circulatory considerations, metabolic and neuromuscular responses, and immune, inflammatory and neurohumoral outcomes associated with hyperthermia. Day two will highlight hypo- and hyperthermic interventions to enhance health and address disease states in clinical, exercise and sport settings, with distinct sessions focused upon ageing and sex differences.

Full meeting details can be found here https://www.physoc.org/events/thermal-physiology-in-health-and-disease-mechanisms-and-therapeutic-applications/