Anthropological and thermoregulatory changes induced by a survival sojourn in a tropical climate.
OBJECTIVE
A survival sojourn in a tropical climate exposes subjects to 2 main constraints: food restriction and tropical climatic conditions. We hypothesized that such a sojourn could modify anthropological characteristics and thermoregulatory responses to heat and cold on return.


METHODS
Eight European male subjects were submitted to a sweating test (ST) for 90 minutes (dry bulb temperature [Tdb] = 47 degrees C, relative humidity (RH) = 10%, and wind speed = 0.8 m x s(-1)) and to a whole-body cold-air test (Tdb = 1 degrees C, RH = 40%, and wind speed = 0.8 m x s(-1)) for 120 minutes in thermoclimatic chambers both before and after a 4-week survival sojourn in French Guyana.


RESULTS
The survival sojourn resulted in a decrease in lean body mass (P < .05) without any significant change in body fat content. Heat thermoregulatory changes studied during the ST were characterized both by a lower mean skin temperature (Tsk) (P < .05) and a higher sweat rate measured after the sojourn than before it (m(sw); P < .05). Cold thermoregulatory changes were characterized by a higher T(sk) value (P < .05) and a decreased onset for continuous shivering without any significant change in internal temperature or metabolic heat production (M).


CONCLUSIONS
This study showed that this type of sojourn modifies not only biometrical characteristics of the subjects but also the thermoregulatory responses, inducing an adaptation of the thermoregulatory system to heat and an increase in the sensitivity of the thermoregulatory system to cold. This finding could have practical implications on return after such a sojourn.
Launay
Jean-Claude
JC
Unité de thermophysiologie, Centre de Recherches du Service de Santé des Armées, La Tronche, France.
Besnard
Yves
Y
Sendowski
Isabelle
I
Guinet
Angélique
A
Hanniquet
Anne-Marie
AM
Savourey
Gustave
G
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000328:Adult; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D003080:Cold Temperature; D005508:Food Deprivation / Q000502:physiology*; D006172:Guyana; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012881:Skin Temperature / Q000502:physiology; D013546:Sweating / Q000502:physiology*; D014195:Travel; D014329:Tropical Climate