HEAT: The Common Denominator of Fatigue Creep
In all my years of writing, I have never seen such interest in an article as I have seen in the article "Jet Lag: The Myth and the Mystery". With that in mind, let us look at fatigue, caused by dehydration, not in the air but on the water.
Most angling is done in hot weather by people who do not work outside in the elements. Many people today work in a controlled environment, transported by a controlled environment to another controlled environment we call home. We carry a few extra pounds from having a more sedentary lifestyle than our forefathers and as such acclimation from the inside world to that of the outside world becomes harder as time goes by.
The overall concept of heat management is nothing more than controlling our out flow of moisture while increasing our intake of moisture to match the loss. Individual intake/outflow ratio of water will vary as greatly as the individual themselves vary. Regardless of the individual, management of the situation begins before exposure to the sun begins.
First, we can adjust our actions and attire to help our bodies adjust and acclimate to the demands of long days in the sun. The first line of defense is a good hat. Any hat is better than nothing but the bigger the better. Hats that breath and have wide brims are among the best. Baseball caps are popular but fall short of the total protection needed. With a hat you are trying to generate as much personal shade as possible as only a wide brim can.
Clothing plays two rolls in the tropics. First it is a barrier between our skin and the sun, a form of shade. This helps the body stay cooler than that of exposed shin and helps in the prevention of sunburn. Covering up exposed skin with long sleeves, long pants and using a high SPF sun blocking lotion will enable you survive in an environment much the same as that of an astronaut on a space walk.
Over time, the effects of dehydration are cumulative and the results are a weaker physical condition. With a weaker physical condition comes a suppressed immune system and a suppressed immune system leaves us susceptible to illnesses we normally would not have to endure had our bodies been stronger. Heat causes dehydration, dehydration causes weakness and weakness causes a weakening of the immune system.
Day 3. Day three is when the sun cuts through the veneer. Having spent twelve hours a day, for three days, in the sun, the cumulative effects of fatigue, caused by heat, starts to show. First, people's attitudes change. Out going people become introverted. The introverted become irritable. The novelty of the trip is wearing off as the wear and tear starts to set in. Roommate sometimes have to be separated and those who could care less who they room with, start to care a lot. The nonexistent starts to exist. Small issues become large and people start to avoid others.
Other issues do not help the fatigue creep. Drinking beer while fishing is almost as much a detriment as not drinking water at all. Getting up at the crack of dawn day after day. Not being able to sleep well due to unusual surrounding, and/or unusual roommates, starts to accelerate the downhill slide. The first few nights people have a tendency to stay up later and perhaps have one more nightcap than they normally would.
It all adds up and on day three I discover just whom exactly I have brought to the tropics. They are people who are considered a success in their chosen fields. Type A personalities who have decided that it is time to do the things they have always wanted to do while they still can and on day three they are tired. People are starting to feel vulnerable and may try and hide any sign of weakness. They may be in an environment foreign to them. They may no longer be the captain of the ship as they usually are at home. Most people adjust well, but some have problems. Fatigue greatly accelerates behavior changes. The very changes the individuals may be trying to suppress.
Day 5: I do not have a license to practice medicine, for days one through four. Day 5 it's either me or the Veterinarian four days down river. When the body is weakened, it is more susceptible to the assaults of day-to-day life no matter where you are. By day five such concerns as diarrhea, nausea and headaches start to take there hold. People who practice the basic precautionary measures rarely suffer anything other than an enjoyable experience. Others start to require medication on day five.
"This never happens to me." On what had to be one of the hottest angling trips I had ever been on, I had a 48 year man, who had been on over 50 trips to the Amazon Jungle, fall out on day five and take to his bed. I suspected it was a collection of issues. One, he was heavier than at anytime in his life. Two, he did not wear much of a hat and while he did drink water, it was nowhere near enough. His last day on the water he was fishing with an 82 year old man who never wore a hat and did not drink much water and felt fine the whole trip. Why the difference. The 82-year-old man had perhaps the lowest body fat index of the group and his body did not give off much perspiration and as such did not need as much water. He was retired and fished the South Florida flats daily. He was better acclimated, better hydrated and as such did not suffer the cumulative effects of dehydration. The result, a stronger human being more resistant to the everyday assaults on the immune system.
While much of the responsibility for taking care of ones self, should and does rely on the individual, but lodge owners and fishing guides need to play a greater roll in fatigue management. In a society where the local populace closes down during the hottest part of the day, why then do they encourage/facilitate anglers to stay out on the water without a.I think the word is "Siesta"? Some of the more progressive lodge owners are setting up day camps in the shade and using hammocks to induce a couple hours of rest and escape from the brutality of the mid-day sun. Many people stay out on the water all day because they do not know there is an alternative available. Before starting your day, explain, in full detail, what your expectations are. Relief from the mid-day sun is not an unreasonable expectation; you just have to speak up.
With the earth getting warmer, people are retreating further into the world of the thermostat. With every degree of difference between the inside and the outside we take one more step backwards as day five turns into day four. Speak up. Drink up.
All rights reserved © 2000-2008 Worldwide Angling, LLC. No part of this website may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any mean s without permission in writing from Worldwide Angling, LLC.
Most angling is done in hot weather by people who do not work outside in the elements. Many people today work in a controlled environment, transported by a controlled environment to another controlled environment we call home. We carry a few extra pounds from having a more sedentary lifestyle than our forefathers and as such acclimation from the inside world to that of the outside world becomes harder as time goes by.
The overall concept of heat management is nothing more than controlling our out flow of moisture while increasing our intake of moisture to match the loss. Individual intake/outflow ratio of water will vary as greatly as the individual themselves vary. Regardless of the individual, management of the situation begins before exposure to the sun begins.
First, we can adjust our actions and attire to help our bodies adjust and acclimate to the demands of long days in the sun. The first line of defense is a good hat. Any hat is better than nothing but the bigger the better. Hats that breath and have wide brims are among the best. Baseball caps are popular but fall short of the total protection needed. With a hat you are trying to generate as much personal shade as possible as only a wide brim can.
Clothing plays two rolls in the tropics. First it is a barrier between our skin and the sun, a form of shade. This helps the body stay cooler than that of exposed shin and helps in the prevention of sunburn. Covering up exposed skin with long sleeves, long pants and using a high SPF sun blocking lotion will enable you survive in an environment much the same as that of an astronaut on a space walk.
Over time, the effects of dehydration are cumulative and the results are a weaker physical condition. With a weaker physical condition comes a suppressed immune system and a suppressed immune system leaves us susceptible to illnesses we normally would not have to endure had our bodies been stronger. Heat causes dehydration, dehydration causes weakness and weakness causes a weakening of the immune system.
Day 3. Day three is when the sun cuts through the veneer. Having spent twelve hours a day, for three days, in the sun, the cumulative effects of fatigue, caused by heat, starts to show. First, people's attitudes change. Out going people become introverted. The introverted become irritable. The novelty of the trip is wearing off as the wear and tear starts to set in. Roommate sometimes have to be separated and those who could care less who they room with, start to care a lot. The nonexistent starts to exist. Small issues become large and people start to avoid others.
Other issues do not help the fatigue creep. Drinking beer while fishing is almost as much a detriment as not drinking water at all. Getting up at the crack of dawn day after day. Not being able to sleep well due to unusual surrounding, and/or unusual roommates, starts to accelerate the downhill slide. The first few nights people have a tendency to stay up later and perhaps have one more nightcap than they normally would.
It all adds up and on day three I discover just whom exactly I have brought to the tropics. They are people who are considered a success in their chosen fields. Type A personalities who have decided that it is time to do the things they have always wanted to do while they still can and on day three they are tired. People are starting to feel vulnerable and may try and hide any sign of weakness. They may be in an environment foreign to them. They may no longer be the captain of the ship as they usually are at home. Most people adjust well, but some have problems. Fatigue greatly accelerates behavior changes. The very changes the individuals may be trying to suppress.
Day 5: I do not have a license to practice medicine, for days one through four. Day 5 it's either me or the Veterinarian four days down river. When the body is weakened, it is more susceptible to the assaults of day-to-day life no matter where you are. By day five such concerns as diarrhea, nausea and headaches start to take there hold. People who practice the basic precautionary measures rarely suffer anything other than an enjoyable experience. Others start to require medication on day five.
"This never happens to me." On what had to be one of the hottest angling trips I had ever been on, I had a 48 year man, who had been on over 50 trips to the Amazon Jungle, fall out on day five and take to his bed. I suspected it was a collection of issues. One, he was heavier than at anytime in his life. Two, he did not wear much of a hat and while he did drink water, it was nowhere near enough. His last day on the water he was fishing with an 82 year old man who never wore a hat and did not drink much water and felt fine the whole trip. Why the difference. The 82-year-old man had perhaps the lowest body fat index of the group and his body did not give off much perspiration and as such did not need as much water. He was retired and fished the South Florida flats daily. He was better acclimated, better hydrated and as such did not suffer the cumulative effects of dehydration. The result, a stronger human being more resistant to the everyday assaults on the immune system.
While much of the responsibility for taking care of ones self, should and does rely on the individual, but lodge owners and fishing guides need to play a greater roll in fatigue management. In a society where the local populace closes down during the hottest part of the day, why then do they encourage/facilitate anglers to stay out on the water without a.I think the word is "Siesta"? Some of the more progressive lodge owners are setting up day camps in the shade and using hammocks to induce a couple hours of rest and escape from the brutality of the mid-day sun. Many people stay out on the water all day because they do not know there is an alternative available. Before starting your day, explain, in full detail, what your expectations are. Relief from the mid-day sun is not an unreasonable expectation; you just have to speak up.
With the earth getting warmer, people are retreating further into the world of the thermostat. With every degree of difference between the inside and the outside we take one more step backwards as day five turns into day four. Speak up. Drink up.
All rights reserved © 2000-2008 Worldwide Angling, LLC. No part of this website may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any mean s without permission in writing from Worldwide Angling, LLC.
