The advantage of using differential data in thermal biology

摘要

The homeostatic mechanisms involved in the maintenance of thermal balance during exercise in the heat influence fluid balance regulation and, therefore, contribute to heat illnesses and decrements in work performance (Flouris and Cheung 2010a). In this light, the study by Wakabayashi and colleagues published recently in this journal raised considerable interest, after reporting that the heat dissipation response of Malaysian and Japanese males during exercise in humid heat stress is different (Wakabayashi et al. 2010). The experimental protocol consisted of a 60-min submaximal exercise bout in 32°C and 70% relative humidity, followed by 30 min recovery. Amongst other parameters, the authors measured rectal temperature (Tre) and hand skin temperature (Th). At baseline, these two variables were significantly different between the two groups. Specifically, Tre was higher in Malaysian individuals, while Th was higher in the Japanese.