Su Yunuo, Martinkova Adela, O'Donnell Emma, Bailey Stephen J, Leicht Christof A
Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport, School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU, UK.
School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU, UK.
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2025 Feb 14. doi: 10.1007/s00421-025-05718-0.
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.
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.
Greater increases in rectal temperature (T) (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 < 0.01). Females had higher skin perfusion and plasma nitrite concentrations (p ≤ 0.04), but lower brachial and central BP than males in both conditions (p ≤ 0.01). Furthermore, females reached a higher T and more unfavourable thermal perception in CH (p ≤ 0.02).
More pronounced cardiovascular responses were associated with higher T 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.
热疗法被认为有助于促进心血管健康，尽管最近大多数热疗法研究都集中在持续热暴露上，但传统桑拿使用通常包含恢复期。本研究比较了持续与间歇全身加热对男性和女性心血管功能标志物的急性影响。
20名健康参与者（25±3岁；10名男性，10名女性）接受2种被动加热方案：持续加热（CH）60分钟和间歇加热（IH），由3个20分钟的时间段组成，中间穿插15分钟的冷却休息时间。评估皮肤灌注、血压（BP）、血浆亚硝酸盐、白细胞介素、体温和热感觉反应。
与IH相比，CH组的直肠温度（T）升高幅度更大（CH：1.2±0.1℃；IH：0.5±0.1℃）、皮肤灌注、收缩压（SBP）、心率（HR）、白细胞介素-6（IL-6）和血浆亚硝酸盐升高幅度更大（p≤0.01），但CH期间的热感觉反应更差（p<0.01）。在两种情况下，女性的皮肤灌注和血浆亚硝酸盐浓度较高（p≤0.04），但肱动脉和中心血压低于男性（p≤0.01）。此外，女性在CH中达到更高的T和更差的热感觉（p≤0.02）。
更明显的心血管反应与更高的T和不适相关。女性表现出比男性更高的皮肤灌注和血浆亚硝酸盐浓度，并且在CH中报告的热感觉较差，但在IH中没有。
