The acute effects of continuous and intermittent whole-body passive heating on cardiovascular disease risk indicators in healthy and young males and females
Su Y, Martinkova A, O'Donnell E, Bailey SJ, Leicht CA
European journal of applied physiology · 3 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- University or hospital
- Loughborough University
- Government
- China Sponsorship Council
- Government
- China Scholarship Council
Based on 3 listed funder(s) and full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2025-02-14 · Eur J Appl Physiol · vol. 125 · issue 6 · pp. 1591–1606
- Publisher
- Springer Science+Business Media
- Cited
- 6 citations · more than 92% of similar papers · 3.3× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 65 works
- Access
- Open access (hybrid journal) · CC-BY
- Research areas
- Thermoregulation and physiological responses · Infrared Thermography in Medicine · Therapeutic Uses of Natural Elements
- Keywords
- Nitrite, Medicine, Perfusion, Blood pressure, Thermoregulation, Heart rate, Internal medicine, Skin temperature, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Chemistry, Nitrate
- MeSH
- humans, cardiovascular diseases, nitrites, body temperature, hyperthermia, induced, blood pressure, heart rate, adult, female, male, hot temperature, young adult
5 authors
From GB
- Yunuo SuLoughborough University
- A. MartinkovaLoughborough University
- Emma O’DonnellLoughborough University
- Stephen J. BaileyLoughborough University
- Christof A. Leicht · correspondingLoughborough University; English Institute of Sport
Abstract
Purpose
Heat therapy is recognised to promote cardiovascular health, and whilst most recent heat therapy investigations have focussed on continuous heat exposure, traditional sauna use often includes recovery periods. This study compared the acute effects of continuous versus intermittent whole-body heating on cardiovascular function markers in males and females.
Methods
Twenty healthy participants (25 ± 3 years; 10 males, 10 females) were exposed to 2 passive heating regimens: continuous heating (CH) for 60 min and intermittent heating (IH) comprised of 3 × 20-min blocks interspersed by 15-min cooling breaks. Skin perfusion, blood pressure (BP), plasma nitrite, interleukins, body temperature, and thermal perceptual responses were assessed.
Results
Greater increases in rectal temperature (Trec) (CH: 1.2 ± 0.1 °C; IH: 0.5 ± 0.1 °C), skin perfusion, systolic blood pressure (SBP), heart rate (HR), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and plasma nitrite were found in CH compared to IH (p ≤ 0.01), but the thermal perceptual response was more unfavourable during CH (p rec and more unfavourable thermal perception in CH (p ≤ 0.02).
Conclusion
More pronounced cardiovascular responses were associated with higher Trec and discomfort. Females exhibited higher skin perfusion and plasma nitrite concentrations than males and reported less favourable thermal perception in CH, but not in IH.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY).
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