SWAGÊÓƵ’s Lara Carlson presents at 34th World Congress of Sports Medicine in Slovenia

Lara Carlson presents her research in Slovenia
Lara Carlson presents her research in Slovenia

Lara Carlson, DPE, FACSM, CSCS, associate professor in the SWAGÊÓƵ Department of Physical Therapy and the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences, recently presented her research at the 34th World Congress of Sports Medicine which took place at the Ljubljana Exhibition and Conference Center in Ljubljana, Slovenia from September 29 – October 2, 2016. Carlson, who has been conducting work in the performance and safety of motorsports drivers, gave a talk titled "Hydration Status and Thermoregulatory Responses in Motorsports Drivers During Competitive Racing".

Carlson stressed that although the impact of heat stress/dehydration and implications on endurance performance has been well documented, less is known about more specialized tasks like driving a racecar. Carlson’s work is the first study attempting to quantify fluid loss during a competitive stock car race and her results suggest that fluid losses during competitive racing can be significant. Without a fluid replacement strategy, fluid losses for these drivers may exceed 3% body weight and could negatively impact driving performance. 

The conference, hosted by the Fédération Internationale de Médécine du Sport (International Federation of Sports Medicine), aims to provide a successive forum for researchers and clinicians from all over the world to exchange ideas and state-of-the-art in the emerging fields of sports medicine. 

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