Exertional Heat Illnesses

Lawrence E. Armstrong, PhD, fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, is a professor in the department of kinesiology, Human Performance Laboratory, at the University of Connecticut. He is author of Human Kinetics' Performing in Extreme Environments (2000). Dr. Armstrong received the Aerospace Medical Society's Environmental Science Award (1986), and the National Strength and Conditioning Association's Presidential Award for contributions to the NSCA Journal of Environmental Physiology (1989 and 1994). Since 1982, he has authored or coauthored 85 research articles for scientific journals and nearly 50 articles for educational and consumer publications. He also has contributed chapters to numerous books and government technical reports. Dr. Armstrong also has personal experience with extreme environments. In addition to completing 14 marathons and climbing Mt. Washington four times, he has collected research data in the medical tent at the Boston Marathon. He has contributed to ACSM and NATA position stands on fluid replacement during exercise as well as position stands on heat and cold illnesses contracted during distance running. Dr. Armstrong graduated cum laude as a scholar-athlete from the University of Toledo in 1971 with a BEd in biology and comprehensive science, and he earned an MEd from Toledo in 1976 and a PhD from Ball State University in 1983 as a student of David Costill's. He is a former president of the New England chapter of the ACSM and conducted numerous research studies as a physiologist at the Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, Massachusetts, from 1983 to 1990. Armstrong lives in Mansfield Center, Connecticut.

Physiology of heat stress; classification, Nomenclature, and incidence of the exertional heat illnesses; exertional heatstroke; heat exhaustion, exercise-associated collapse, and heat syncope; exertional heat cramps; exertional Hyponatremia; minor heat illnesses; predisposing factors for exertional heat illnesses; considerations for the medical staff; recommendations for athletes and weekend warriors.