Summary
Sweat rate and the rate of change in sweat drippage were studied during the acclimation of eight healthy male subject during exposure to heat during 10 consecutive days. During acclimation to hot humid conditions, the increase in total body sweat rate results in an increase in the rate of sweat drippage. We found, however, that on each day the drippage rate markedly decreased with time after the 1st h of heat exposure. This hidromeiosis was investigated as a function of the heat exposure time. No shortening of the onset time of hidromeiosis occurred with acclimation. With repeated heat exposures, the initial sweat rates in response to stress increased, and the subsequent decline became larger with higher sweat rates at the time of onset of hidromeiosis. Hidromeiosis appears to be a function of the degree of skin wettedness reached in the various local skin areas which determine the overall body skin wettedness upon which evaporative adjustments depend. Thus, the observed overshoot in total sweat rate as indicated by sweat drippage, and the subsequent hidromeiosis, result from initial oversweating in the poorly ventilated areas of skin. This sweat decline seems to be due to a reduction in output of the active sweat glands rather than to a reduction in active sweat gland number.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brebner DF, Kerslake DMcK (1964) The time course of the decline in sweating produced by wetting the skin. J Physiol 175:295–302
Brebner DF, Kerslake DMcK (1968) The effects of soaking the skin in water at various temperatures on the subsequent ability to sweat. J Physiol 194:1–11
Brown WK, Sargent F II (1965) Hidromeiosis. Arch Environ Health 11:442–453
Candas V, Libert JP, Vogt JJ (1979a) Human skin wettedness and evaporative efficiency of sweating. J Appl Physiol 46:522–528
Candas V, Libert JP, Vogt JJ (1979b) Influence of air velocity and heat acclimation on human skin wettedness and sweating efficiency. J Appl Physiol 47:1194–1200
Collins KJ, Weiner JS (1960) Sweat gland failure on the body surface on the forearm enclosed in an arm bag. J Physiol 154:62–63P
Collins KJ, Weiner JS (1962) Observations on arm bag suppression of sweating and its relationship to thermal sweat gland fatigue. J Physiol 161:538–556
Dobson RL (1962) The correlation of structure and function in the human eccrine sweat gland. In: Montagna W, Ellis Ra, Silver AF (eds) Advances in biology of skin, vol 3. Pergamon Press, London, pp 54–75
Fox RH, Lofstedt BE, Woodward PM, Eriksson E, Werkstrom B (1969) Comparison of thermo-regulatory function in men and women. J Appl Physiol 26:444–453
Gagge AP (1937) A new physiological variable associated with sensible and insensible perspiration. Am J Physiol 120:277–287
Gerking SD, Robinson S (1946) Decline in the rates of sweating of men working in severe heat. Am J Physiol 147:370–378
Henane R (1972) La dépression sudorale au cours de l'hyperthermie contrÔlée chez l'homme. J Physiol (Paris) 64:147–163
Hertig BA, Riedesel ML, Belding HS (1961) Sweating in hot baths. J Appl Physiol 16:647–651
Hertzmann AB, Ferguson IO (1959) Failure in temperature regulation during progressive dehydration. W.A.D.C. Technical Report, cited by Sargent (1962)
Höfler W (1968) Changes in regional distribution of sweating during acclimatization to heat. J Appl Physiol 25:503–506
Kerslake DMcK (1972) The stress of hot environments. Cambridge University Press, London
Ladell WSS (1945) Thermal sweating. Br Med Bull 3:175–179
Mole RH (1948) The relative humidity of the skin. J Physiol 107:399–411
Peter J, Wyndham CM (1966) Activity of the human eccrine sweat gland during exercise in a hot humid environment before and after acclimatization. J Physiol 187:583–594
Randall WC, Peiss CN (1957) The relationship between skin hydration and the suppression of sweating. J Invest Dermatol 28:435–441
Sargent F II (1962) Depression of sweating in man: so-called “sweat gland fatigue”;. In: Montagna W, Ellis RA, Silver AF (eds) Advances in biology of skin, vol 3. Pergamon Press, London, pp 163–211
Spruit D, Reynen ATA (1972) Pattern of sweat gland activity on the forearm after pharmacologic stimulation. Acta Derm Venereol (Stockholm) 52:129–135
Stolwijk JAJ, Nadel ER, Mitchell JW, Saltin B (1971) Modification of central sweating drive at the periphery. Int J Biometeorol 15:268–272
Thaysen JH, Schwartz IL (1955) Fatigue of the sweat glands. J Clin Invest 34:1719–1725
Thomsom ML, Sutarman (1953) The identification and enumeration of active sweat glands in man from plastic impressions of the skin. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 47:412–417
Thomsom ML (1954) A comparison between the number and distribution of functioning eccrine sweat glands in Europeans and Africans. J Physiol 123:225–233
Weinman KP, Slabochova Z, Bernauer EM, Porizoto T, Sargent F II (1967) Reactions of men and women to repeated exposure to humid heat. J Appl Physiol 22:533–538
Weiner JS (1945) The regional distribution of sweating. J Physiol 104:32–40
Wyndham CH, Strydom NB, Morrison JF, Williams CG, Bredell GAG, Peter J (1966) Fatigue of sweat gland response. J Appl Physiol 21:107–110
Wyndham CH, Morrison JF, Williams CG (1965) Heat reactions of male and female Caucasians. J Appl Physiol 20:357–364
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Candas, V., Libert, J.P. & Vogt, J.J. Effect of hidromeiosis on sweat drippage during acclimation to humid heat. Europ. J. Appl. Physiol. 44, 123–133 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421090
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421090