The effects of acute and chronic passive heating on vascular function, cognitive function, muscle function and heat shock protein responses in middle-aged to older adults: a randomised, controlled crossover trial.
This research study is investigating how being heated in water over a short and longer period of time can improve cardiovascular, cognitive and muscle function in older adults.
Study description
Frequent exercise is an established method to improve your health, however, many people struggle to adhere to exercise guidelines and programmes. There is a growing body of evidence that passive heating (such as hot water immersion or sauna) can provide similar benefits compared to exercise, as a result of a rapid rise in your body temperature. The majority of previous research looking at the effects of passive heating, however, has been performed in younger people.
We are aiming to find out whether the same health benefits can be seen in healthy adults who are aged 55 and over and are looking for individuals who are free from any major cardiovascular or metabolic condition (e.g., type 2 diabetes) to participate. This work will help us to improve our understanding of how older adults could use an alternative method to exercise to improve their health.
What will participants be doing?
Participation would involve going into a 40°C hot tub for 60 minutes ~3x per week over a 6 week period. We will administer non-invasive tests of your heart and artery function, cognitive function and some basic muscle strength, balance and walking tests to see if going in the hot tubs improves these markers of health. Additionally, we will be taking some blood samples to test for different biochemical markers of health in the blood.
Time commitment
- 2 hours 3x per week for hot tub sessions over a 6 week period
- 4 mornings (~3 hours each) for physiological baseline testing
- A 3 day stint testing the responses to your first hot tub session, with one all day visit, then 2 short follow up visits 1 and 2 days after
Apply
If you are interested or would like to know more information, please contact PhD Student Daniel Piccolo on daniel.piccolo@port.ac.uk.
The studies you will be invited to will all have been reviewed and approved by the University of Portsmouth Ethics Committee. Your data will be treated strictly confidentially and will not be passed on to third parties.
For experiment participation rules please see consult the privacy policy.
Participant characteristics:
- aged 55+
- Individuals who are free from serious cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory or neurological conditions
- Non-smoker
- Body mass index 18-35 kg/m^2
- staff and the general public
- any gender
Reward
There is no payment, however, it is possible you may temporarily improve your cardiovascular health from the passive heating, as evidenced by previous research in younger populations.
Closing date
23 May 2025.
Please contact the research team by emailing Daniel Piccolo (daniel.piccolo@port.ac.uk) and Ant Shepherd (ant.shepherd@port.ac.uk).