Physiology in Perspective: Responding to a Changing Environment.

IF 10.3
Gary C Sieck
{"title":"Physiology in Perspective: Responding to a Changing Environment.","authors":"Gary C Sieck","doi":"10.1152/physiol.00001.2019","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Sitting here in Minnesota in the midst of the 2019 winter, I am not particularly disappointed by temperatures in the mid30s, but I fully understand that this is not normal— or at least not the normal I have experienced for the past 29 years in the Northland. It is far too warm for a Minnesota winter, particularly when this warmer weather persists for days and weeks with average temperatures 3–5 degrees above normal. How can a reasonable person question the reality of global warming? As it goes, the deniers will wait until the next sub-zero day to shout their denials that climate change exists. However, we as scientists all know that it is real—facts are facts! With global warming, it also rains more in Minnesota, with larger more violent storms—storms of the century occurring almost every year. Although we may be experiencing more rain, other parts of the U.S. experience more frequent extreme droughts and devastating fires— fires of the century occurring almost yearly. We are not alone in experiencing these extreme effects of global warming, since storms, droughts, and fires are occurring throughout the world and are undeniable due to the changing environment. Unfortunately, we are dependent on our policymakers to reverse the underlying causes of climate change by decreasing CO2 emissions and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. We must maintain hope, even while our president questions the value of the recently published National Climate Assessment (November, 2018), declaring himself “not a believer.” However, physiologists can continue the battle by providing insight into how our bodies and life in general respond to these persistent changes in our environment. We can make informed predictive statements about how environmental warming affects our physiology and demonstrate the overall shifts in physiological performance as the environment continues to warm and becomes more extreme with climate change. Hopefully, increasingly detailed data sets can help policymakers understand how humans and all life on our planet are likely to respond to extreme heat, with resulting storms and flooding, drought and fires, and in what ways physiological responses are limited. The first review article in this issue of Physiology examines how animal and human populations respond to extreme heat. A consequence of climate change is the increased frequency and severity of extreme heat or heat waves. Unless carbon emissions are dramatically and immediately reduced, summers at the end of the 21st century are likely to be primarily comprised of days that we would currently consider extreme. In his review (6), Stillman explores the ways in which life is likely to respond. Understanding the limits to physiological responses should help to manage wildlife, predict shifts in species distributions, and shift ways in which human activities are organized to minimize adverse health consequences. It has widely been shown that, during heat waves, human populations experience an increase of pathology, including heat stroke (hyperthermia), and, during the most extreme heat waves, increased mortality, especially in susceptible subsets of the population such as the very young or old. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that urbanization intensifies heat waves, and thus the places where most people live heat even more than rural areas. Humans must adjust daily and seasonal schedules to reduce exposure to extreme heat, for example, shifting recreation and work expectations, and providing increased access to safe and clean water for evaporative cooling and prevention of dehydration. Prolonged spaceflight presents another extreme environmental challenge for humans. Suspended animation for interplanetary travelers is a familiar concept from decades of science fiction books and movies. Forthcoming advancements in modern engineering will likely take such journeys from science fiction to reality and will depend on the induced metabolic suppression of human passengers. Two approaches are being considered. The first applies current medical practice of therapeutic hypothermia, whereas the second utilizes the cascade of metabolic processes that are naturally employed by hibernators during torpor. In their review (5), Nordeen and Martin explore the basis and evidence behind each approach and argue that mimicry of natural hibernation will be critical to overcome the innate limitations of human physiology for longrange space exploration. The efforts made to achieve synthetic torpor in humans for space travel should also have numerous applications in medicine that range from routine surgery to helping victims of trauma, cardiac arrest, and stroke. Skeletal muscle is a highly adaptable tissue that is remarkably compromised by sarcopenia and the aging process. Declines in muscle mass approach nearly 10% per decade and are accelerated with advancing age. Older adults can benefit substantially from resistance exercise training, a potent stimulus for whole muscle fiber hypertrophy, gains in neuromuscular performance, and improved functional mobility. In their review (3), Lavin and colleagues discuss the use of advancing technologies that continue to elucidate the mechanisms of and heterogeneity in adaptations to resistance training beyond differences in exercise prescription. A greater understanding of the molecular basis of adaptations to resistance training, optimization of exercise prescription, and approaches to maximize awareness and adherence promises to make resistance training an even more effective tool in combating neuromuscular aging. Metabolic syndrome and major depressive disorder represent two of the most common and debilitating disorders worldwide, occurring with significant PHYSIOLOGY IN PERSPECTIVE Gary C. Sieck, Editor-in-Chief Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota PHYSIOLOGY 34: 84–85, 2019.","PeriodicalId":520753,"journal":{"name":"Physiology (Bethesda, Md.)","volume":" ","pages":"84-85"},"PeriodicalIF":10.3000,"publicationDate":"2019-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1152/physiol.00001.2019","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Physiology (Bethesda, Md.)","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1152/physiol.00001.2019","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Sitting here in Minnesota in the midst of the 2019 winter, I am not particularly disappointed by temperatures in the mid30s, but I fully understand that this is not normal— or at least not the normal I have experienced for the past 29 years in the Northland. It is far too warm for a Minnesota winter, particularly when this warmer weather persists for days and weeks with average temperatures 3–5 degrees above normal. How can a reasonable person question the reality of global warming? As it goes, the deniers will wait until the next sub-zero day to shout their denials that climate change exists. However, we as scientists all know that it is real—facts are facts! With global warming, it also rains more in Minnesota, with larger more violent storms—storms of the century occurring almost every year. Although we may be experiencing more rain, other parts of the U.S. experience more frequent extreme droughts and devastating fires— fires of the century occurring almost yearly. We are not alone in experiencing these extreme effects of global warming, since storms, droughts, and fires are occurring throughout the world and are undeniable due to the changing environment. Unfortunately, we are dependent on our policymakers to reverse the underlying causes of climate change by decreasing CO2 emissions and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. We must maintain hope, even while our president questions the value of the recently published National Climate Assessment (November, 2018), declaring himself “not a believer.” However, physiologists can continue the battle by providing insight into how our bodies and life in general respond to these persistent changes in our environment. We can make informed predictive statements about how environmental warming affects our physiology and demonstrate the overall shifts in physiological performance as the environment continues to warm and becomes more extreme with climate change. Hopefully, increasingly detailed data sets can help policymakers understand how humans and all life on our planet are likely to respond to extreme heat, with resulting storms and flooding, drought and fires, and in what ways physiological responses are limited. The first review article in this issue of Physiology examines how animal and human populations respond to extreme heat. A consequence of climate change is the increased frequency and severity of extreme heat or heat waves. Unless carbon emissions are dramatically and immediately reduced, summers at the end of the 21st century are likely to be primarily comprised of days that we would currently consider extreme. In his review (6), Stillman explores the ways in which life is likely to respond. Understanding the limits to physiological responses should help to manage wildlife, predict shifts in species distributions, and shift ways in which human activities are organized to minimize adverse health consequences. It has widely been shown that, during heat waves, human populations experience an increase of pathology, including heat stroke (hyperthermia), and, during the most extreme heat waves, increased mortality, especially in susceptible subsets of the population such as the very young or old. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that urbanization intensifies heat waves, and thus the places where most people live heat even more than rural areas. Humans must adjust daily and seasonal schedules to reduce exposure to extreme heat, for example, shifting recreation and work expectations, and providing increased access to safe and clean water for evaporative cooling and prevention of dehydration. Prolonged spaceflight presents another extreme environmental challenge for humans. Suspended animation for interplanetary travelers is a familiar concept from decades of science fiction books and movies. Forthcoming advancements in modern engineering will likely take such journeys from science fiction to reality and will depend on the induced metabolic suppression of human passengers. Two approaches are being considered. The first applies current medical practice of therapeutic hypothermia, whereas the second utilizes the cascade of metabolic processes that are naturally employed by hibernators during torpor. In their review (5), Nordeen and Martin explore the basis and evidence behind each approach and argue that mimicry of natural hibernation will be critical to overcome the innate limitations of human physiology for longrange space exploration. The efforts made to achieve synthetic torpor in humans for space travel should also have numerous applications in medicine that range from routine surgery to helping victims of trauma, cardiac arrest, and stroke. Skeletal muscle is a highly adaptable tissue that is remarkably compromised by sarcopenia and the aging process. Declines in muscle mass approach nearly 10% per decade and are accelerated with advancing age. Older adults can benefit substantially from resistance exercise training, a potent stimulus for whole muscle fiber hypertrophy, gains in neuromuscular performance, and improved functional mobility. In their review (3), Lavin and colleagues discuss the use of advancing technologies that continue to elucidate the mechanisms of and heterogeneity in adaptations to resistance training beyond differences in exercise prescription. A greater understanding of the molecular basis of adaptations to resistance training, optimization of exercise prescription, and approaches to maximize awareness and adherence promises to make resistance training an even more effective tool in combating neuromuscular aging. Metabolic syndrome and major depressive disorder represent two of the most common and debilitating disorders worldwide, occurring with significant PHYSIOLOGY IN PERSPECTIVE Gary C. Sieck, Editor-in-Chief Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota PHYSIOLOGY 34: 84–85, 2019.
透视生理学:对变化环境的反应。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
自引率
0.00%
发文量
0
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:604180095
Book学术官方微信