This project tested the hypothesis that an acute bout of hyperthermia will reduce arterial blood pressure during and following the exposure, but the response will be attenuated in obese type 2 diabetics. Eleven obese type 2 diabetics (T2D) (50.1 ± 12 y, 45 ± 7.1% fat mass, 7.5 ± 1.8% HbA1C) and nine similarly aged healthy controls (HC) (41.1 ± 13.7y; P=0.185, 33.4 ± 7.8% fat mass; P=0.009, 5.3 ± 0.4%, HbA1C; P=0.007) with similar resting blood pressure (T2D: 125 ± 27/ 77 ± 14, HC: 122 ± 14/ 81 ± 10, P>0.05) were assessed. Subjects underwent a whole body passive heated stress (1 hour resting in 39.4 ± 0.4°C water) followed by 1 hour post immersion recovery under normal ambient temperatures. Both groups were similarly heat stressed (ΔTre, 1.4 ± 0.4°; ΔTsk, 6.5 ± 0.8; and ΔHR from rest, 33.5 ± 8.3 bpm) at the end of warm water immersion. In comparison to pre‐immersion values, there were no interactive effect for mean arterial blood pressure (MAP, time x group; P=0.145). MAP was reduced (P<0.01) from minute 10 (ΔMAP, T2D: 10.2 ± 5.5, HC: 14.8 ± 8.4) through minute 60 of immersion (T2D: 12.8 ± 8.1, HC: 13.9 ± 11.2) and remained below pre‐immersion values (P=0.004) up to 20 minutes post immersion in both groups (T2D: 10.8 ± 9.6, HC 7.6 ± 6.8 mmHg). These data indicate that head‐out warm water immersion results in similar hypotensive responses in both groups. Thus, passive heat stress may offer a therapeutic benefit to both healthy and diabetic populations.
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