Sydney: Using a fan and wetting the skin can reduce the risk of deadly heart strain in hot and humid weather, an Australian-led research has found. In a study published on Thursday, researchers from the University of Sydney and Canada's Montreal Heart Institute found that using a fan in hot and humid weather reduces cardiac strain in older people. According to Namibia Press Agency, the research, funded by the Australian government's National Health and Medical Research Council, investigated low-cost cooling strategies for older adults at increased health risk during hot weather. The study involved older participants, both with and without heart disease, who were subjected to two environmental conditions: 38 degrees Celsius with 60 percent humidity and 45 degrees Celsius with 15 percent humidity, simulating typical heatwave extremes. The findings revealed that fan use, with or without skin wetting, significantly reduced potentially deadly cardiac strain in hot and humid conditions. However, in very hot and d ry conditions, fan use had an adverse effect, tripling the increase in cardiac strain due to convection, which forced more heat into the body. In such conditions, skin wetting alone was found to effectively reduce cardiac strain. Ollie Jay, a co-author of the study and director of the Heat and Health Research Center and Thermal Ergonomics Laboratory at the University of Sydney, highlighted the growing health risks from extreme heat due to climate change. "Older adults, especially those with heart disease, are at greater risk due to the strain that hot temperatures put on the heart. Understanding the impacts of different cooling strategies on the heart is important to help vulnerable people stay well during hot summer weather," he stated in a media release.