Reactions of men and women to repeated exposure to humid heat

Abstract

repeated exposure to humid heat. J. Appl. Physiol. 22(3) : ~33-538~ rg67.-Ten healthy young subjects, five men and five women, underwent a series of experiments, walking on a treadmill for 4 hr under conditions of 33.9 C DB, 32.2 C WB, and 88 % relative humidity. Measurements were made of sweat rate, skin and rectal temperatures, pulse rate, blood pressure, and metabolic rate. Two similar experiments under temperate ambient conditions served as bases for evaluating the influence of the work in the humid heat and that of the work itself. The increment of rectal temperature was smaller in the men than in the women and decreased progressively. Total body sweat rate was significantly higher in the men and rose during the course of the repeated exposures. Among women the increment of pulse tended to reach a plateau within 2 hr; it did not in men. No differences nor changes were found in the blood pres-