Sympathetic and cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity as related to heat stroke. (17th June 2009) - Whitt, Michael D.
Heat stroke diagnosis takes place when core temperature exceeds 40.5°C. Many risk factors, environmental and non-environmental, are associated with increased occurrence of heat stroke. Early diagnosis of a heat related illness is believed to be important in the effective reduction of heat stress mortality and morbidity rates. Sympathetic and cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity could provide metrics to aid in the early diagnosis. Data analysis took place using previous data from an experiment where 24 subjects performed 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise in a chamber with WBGT equal to 27.5°C. The primary experimental objective was observation of a relationship between transepidermal water loss and cardiovascular metrics. Thus, the design of experiments limited the amount of valuable information able to be extracted pertaining to sympathetic and cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity. However, a test of means demonstrated that diastolic pressure and heart rate underwent significant changes with time in the hot and humid environment.