Abstract
Living and working in hot dry environments increases the thermal load on the body with adverse consequences ranging from impaired physical and mental performance to serious heat illness [1]. Acclimatisation can reduce the impact of these consequences, but risks to performance and health can never be completely eliminated. Acclimatisation to a hot environment results in an earlier onset of sweating [2,3], an increased sweat rate for an absolute core temperature [3], and a reduced sweat electrolyte concentration [3], Evaluation of the sweating response is traditionally achieved through an exercise-based standardised heat tolerance test undertaken in controlled environmental conditions. The collection of a sweat sample requires a reliable and valid method that avoids contamination of the sample during collection. However, analysis of sweat samples can be time consuming, involving laboratory-based analysis techniques, and not conducive to field use. This study evaluated the sensitivity of a resting sweat collection approach for assessing heat acclimation status in young adults.
Highlights
Living and working in hot dry environments increases the thermal load on the body with adverse consequences ranging from impaired physical and mental performance to serious heat illness [1]
A resting sweat sample was stimulated by pilocarpine iontophoresis and collected by the ELITech, Wescor Macroduct resting sweat collection system prior to each Heat Tolerance Test (HTT)
Physiological acclimation after the 6-day acclimation period was evident in all volunteers
Summary
Living and working in hot dry environments increases the thermal load on the body with adverse consequences ranging from impaired physical and mental performance to serious heat illness [1]. Acclimatisation can reduce the impact of these consequences, but risks to performance and health can never be completely eliminated. Acclimatisation to a hot environment results in an earlier onset of sweating [2,3], an increased sweat rate for an absolute core temperature [3], and a reduced sweat electrolyte concentration [3], Evaluation of the sweating response is traditionally achieved through an exercisebased standardised heat tolerance test undertaken in controlled environmental conditions. This study evaluated the sensitivity of a resting sweat collection approach for assessing heat acclimation status in young adults
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