Study on sweating response of paraplegics exposed to a hot, humid environment during exercise

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It is known that the sweat response of individuals with spinal cord injury (ISCI) is basically dependent on the level of injury. However, there is little literature on the relationship between injury level and sweating in ISCI. In addition, no investigation has been conducted on sweating responses of ISCI during exercise in a hot environment. The purpose of this study, therefore, was (1)to clarify the relationship between injury level and sweating site of the body, (2)to investigate the effect of water ingestion during exercise on sweating and body temperature, and (3)to demonstrate the effect of cooling jacket in ISCI exposed in a hot, humid environment. Subjects were adult male paraplegics (L1〜Th6). All subjects showed apparent sweat responses at the forehead, the chest and the stomach. In contrast, there found only a little or little sweating at the thigh and the lower leg in all subjects. The subjects with upper lesion level showed less total sweat rate during exercise in a hot environment than those with lower lesion level. However, there was no significant difference of total sweat rate between the groups. Although skin temperatures at the thigh and the lower leg were lower in ISCI with high lesion level, there was no significant difference of skin temperature at the forehead, the chest and the upper arm between the two groups. Furthermore, the tympanic membrane temperature was not significant between the two groups. Total sweat rate was independent of the level of injury in contrast to local sweating. These results suggested that there was no remarkable effect of lesion level in paraplegics to regulate body temperature during exercise in a hot environment. In paraplegics, the combined effect of water ingestion and wearing cooling jacket could easily control circulatory response and rising body temperature in a hot, humid environment.