Failure of the Sweat Mechanism in the Desert

Wolkin, Julius; Goodman, Joseph I.; Kelley, William E.

doi:10.1001/jama.1944.02850080006002

Cited by 47 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…The rate of sweat secretion has been shown to decrease during prolonged exposure to heat (1)(2)(3). This phenomenon has practical importance in the etiology of heat stroke, since the evaporation of sweat is the only significant means for dissipating heat when the environmental temperature equals or exceeds the body temperature.…”

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confidence: 99%

Fatigue of the Sweat Glands

Thaysen¹,

Schwartz²

1955

J. Clin. Invest.

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The rate of sweat secretion has been shown to decrease during prolonged exposure to heat (1-3). This phenomenon has practical importance in the etiology of heat stroke, since the evaporation of sweat is the only significant means for dissipating heat when the environmental temperature equals or exceeds the body temperature.It is not known whether this decrease in sweating rate is due to a failure of the sudomotor center or to an exhaustion of the peripheral glandular units. The present, investigation was undertaken in an attempt to answer this question. The' results indicate that the decrease in sweating rate is due primarily to fatigue of the secretory mechanism of the glands. Apparently sweating can continue indefinitely at the same rate only as long as the demand upon the secretory mechanism does not exceed the capacity of the simultaneous restorative processes. Whenever the demand upon the secretory mechanism exceeds restorative capacity the rate of sweating decreases. PROCEDUREFour young, un-acclimatized, healthy males served as subjects for the experiments which were conducted during the winter months. Sweating was stimulated in a hot room, temperature 400 to 450 C., relative humidity 60 to 90 per cent. The carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations of the air were controlled and kept constant at normal values prevailing outside the gas-tight chamber. The subjects entered the room nude except for a pair of light shorts and remained at rest lying uncovered on top of a bed during the entire experiment. Room temperature and rectal temperature were recorded every 30 minutes.The total amount of sweat secreted from the entire body surface was estimated at accurately timed intervals of 30 to 60 minutes' duration. The subject removed his shorts. His skin was dried thoroughly with towels and body weight measured to the nearest 50 gm. Water, approximately at body temperature, was imbibed in amounts equivalent to the loss in body weight; sodium chloride was taken to replace an estimated average loss of 50 mEq. of sodium per liter of sweat produced. The total amount of sweat secreted in any period was calculated from the weight loss with corrections for water intake and urine flow. The insensible water loss from the skin and through the expired air and the metabolic weight loss were taken into account and did not introduce a significant error into this calculation at the sweating rates which prevailed in these experiments.Local collections of sweat, using special collection chambers (4), were obtained from the ventral surfaces of the forearms. The sweat was absorbed into filter paper discs and the rate of flow calculated by the weight increment of the disc during exactly timed periods of 20 to 30 minutes' duration.Prints of the sweating areas were obtained and analyzed by methods previously described (5). In brief, paper impregnated with iodine was placed in special holders and pressed against the skin of the local collection areas for timed periods of 1 to 10 seconds. The water emerging from the sweat glands reacted wi...

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confidence: 99%

Fatigue of the Sweat Glands

Thaysen¹,

Schwartz²

1955

J. Clin. Invest.

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“…There was also, especially in cases with a history of severe prickly heat, an unusually high concentration of chloride in the sweat of these patients when tested during convalescence. A similar syndrome of anhidrosis and asthenia was described by Wolkin, Goodman, and Kelley (1944), who did not record any association with prickly heat; but O'Brien (1947), working in South-east Asia, confirmed clinically the anhidrotic effect of prickly heat and the subsequent development of tropical asthenia. It has not previously been possible to confirm experimentally the effect of prickly heat on sweating and on the composition of sweat, as the lesion cannot be produced in the laboratory, and it is usually endemic in localities where facilities for detailed investigations are non-existent.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Changes in Sweating after Prickly Heat

Ladell¹

1951

BMJ

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“…Only one subject complained of pruritus. In view of the lack of response of radiated skin to locally applied acetylcholine, it is interesting that in idiopathic heat stroke (Hearne, 1932) and also in thermogenic anhidrosis (Wolkin, Goodman & Kelley, 1944) the parasympathomimetic drug pilocarpine did not cause visible increase in sweating. A less regular return to normal of the curve of reduced sweating (Thomson, 1951) might be expected if superficial blockage were the only cause, since the obstructing layer of damaged epidermis usually comes off, or is removed, in large pieces.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The cause of changes in sweating rate after ultraviolet radiation

Thomson¹

1951

The Journal of Physiology

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In a previous paper (Thomson, 1951) it has been shown that ultra-violet (u.v.) radiation causes a reduction in the total sweat loss of subjects generally irradiated and in the sweating rate of small areas of skin locally irradiated. During the course of the above investigation certain inferences were drawn as to the cause of the reduction in sweating; e.g. it was noted that a vesicular eruption (sudamina) occurred after both local and general radiation, indicating that blockage of the mouths of sweat gland ducts was at least partly responsible for this reduction.This paper reports further work carried out to elucidate the pathogenesis of the changes in sweating after radiation. METHODSIn most of the experimental work reported in this paper, a method previously described (Thomson, 1951) was used to determine quantitatively the sweating rate of small areas of skin. The ratio of sweating rates of two areas on the same person was found, and subsequently one of these areas was used as a control, while the other was submitted to various experimental procedures. For convenience the ratio of sweating rates of test to control areas was called the 'sweating ratio'. These quantitative results were verified in most experiments by the use of Minor's (1927) method. Iontophoresis was carried out by the technique of Montgomery, Holling & Friedland (1938). RESULTSSudamina or crystallina caused by radiation. Sudamina is described as an eruption in the stratum corneum of small, non-inflammatory vesicles containing sweat; the vesicles communicate directly with the sweat glands. This condition occurs in the course of many acute infectious diseases (e.g. pneumonia, or acute rheumatic fever, or in the moribund, in which cases it is of little importance and requires no treatment). The rash appears suddenly on any part of the body or face, but is most commonly found on the chest or neck.

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Failure of the Sweat Mechanism in the Desert

Cited by 47 publications

References 4 publications

Fatigue of the Sweat Glands

Fatigue of the Sweat Glands

Changes in Sweating after Prickly Heat

The cause of changes in sweating rate after ultraviolet radiation

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