Dynamics of sweating in men and women during passive heating

Summary

The dynamics of sweating was investigated at rest in 8 men and 8 women. Electrical skin resistance (ESR), rectal temperature (T_re) and mean skin temperature $(\bar T_{sk} )$ were measured in subjects exposed to 40‡ C environmental temperature, 30% relative air humidity, and 1 m · s⁻¹ air flow. Sweat rate was computed from continuous measurement of the whole body weight loss. It was found that increases in T_re, $(\bar T_{sk} )$ and mean body temperature $(\bar T_b )$ were higher in women than in men by 0.16, 0.38 and 0.21‡ C, but only the difference in δ $\Delta \bar T_b$ was significant (p<0.05). The dynamics of sweating in men and women respectively, was as follows: delay (t_d) 7.8 and 18.1 min (p<0.01), time constant (Τ) 7.5 and 8.8 min (N.S.), inertia time (t_i) 15.3 and 26.9 min (p<0.002), and total body weight loss 153 and 111 g · m⁻² · h⁻¹ (p<0.001). Dynamic parameters of ESR did not differ significantly between men and women. Inertia times of ESR and sweat rate correlated in men (r=0.93, p<0.001), and in women (r=0.76, p<0.02). In men, δ T_re correlated with inertia time of sweat rate (r=0.81, p<0.01) as well as with the inertia time of ESR (r=0.83, p<0.001). No relation was found between δ T_re and the dynamics of sweating in women. It is concluded that the dynamics of sweating plays a decisive role in limiting δ T_re in men under dry heat exposure. The later onset of sweating in women does not influence the rectal temperature increase significantly. In women, δ T_re is probably limited by a complex interaction of sweating, skin blood flow increase, and metabolic rate decrease.