JOURNAL OF ADVANCE AND FUTURE RESEARCH · Oct 2026
THERMOREGULATORY RESERVE AND HEALTHY AGEING Physiological Decline Thermal Vulnerability and Strategies for Preserving Thermoregulatory Resilience A Narrative Review
By V DYP, J DSK, Shetty S
: Background: Human thermoregulation depends on integrated sensing, autonomic control, cardiovascular support and behaviour, and several of these components change with age. Heatwaves and cold cause disproportionate harm in older adults. Objective: To examine how thermoregulatory capacity changes in later life, how thermal stress connects to systemic and cellular physiology, and what human evidence supports exercise, thermal, naturopathic and yogic approaches, using thermoregulatory reserve as a proposed integrative concept. Methods: Narrative review of literature from targeted PubMed searches, informed by SANRA. Results: Ageing reduces cutaneous vasodilation and sweating capacity, cold-induced cutaneous vasoconstriction and thermogenesis, thirst and thermal perception, while central thermoregulatory control appears relatively preserved. Fitness, disease, medication, hydration and sex modify these changes, but even healthy older adults show greater heat strain during prolonged heat exposure. Thermal stress loads cardiovascular, renal and fluid-regulatory systems; links to inflammaging and long-term ageing outcomes remain unproven. Exercise training and short-term heat acclimation, including passive hot-water immersion, improve heat loss in healthy older volunteers, and small trials show clinical benefit in selected conditions. Skin wetting acutely reduces heat strain in older adults. Evidence for cold exposure, contrast hydrotherapy and yoga on thermoregulatory outcomes is limited, although yoga improves balance, strength, sleep and mood. Conclusion: Naturopathic and yogic practices are best evaluated by their specific physiological targets. Current evidence supports maintaining fitness, protecting older adults from environmental extremes and testing graded heat acclimation in vulnerable groups. No thermal, naturopathic or yogic practice has been shown to extend human lifespan.