The thermal sensation and cutaneous vasomotor response to local thermal load in winter and summer seasons in young women with a cold constitution

冷え症女性の冬期と夏期における局所温冷負荷に対する温度感覚と皮膚血管応答

The thermal sensation and cutaneous vasomotor response to local thermal load in winter and summer seasons in young women with a cold constitution

Creators Yamazaki Fumio

Creators Fujita Masumi

Creators Watanabe Yuri

本研究では若年女性を対象として局所温冷負荷時の皮膚温、温度感覚および皮膚血管反応の季節差について検討した。また、これらの心理生理的反応が冷え症者と非冷え症者との間で異なるのか否かについても検討した。冷え症の判別は体の冷えに関するアンケート調査によって行った。被験者は冬期(2-3月)と夏期(7-8月)に同一環境条件下(室温27℃)で行われた2つの実験に参加した。実験1では20℃の水に2 分間手を浸漬し、その後回復過程の測定を10分間行った。実験2では足背と下腿の各6㎠の皮膚領域をそれぞれ32℃から42℃へ上昇させる局所加温を行った。その結果、冷水負荷からの手部の皮膚温と温度感覚の回復は冬期の方が夏期よりも遅く、足背部への局所加温時の温覚感受性と皮膚血流増加反応は夏期の方が低いことから、四肢末梢部の局所性皮膚血管拡張機能には季節差のあることが明らかとなった。冷え症者では、夏期において冷水負荷後の皮膚温の回復が遅く、また下肢加温負荷時の局所性皮膚血管拡張反応が減弱することが示唆された。

In the present study, we examined the seasonal variation in skin temperature, thermal sensation and cutaneous vascular responses to local thermal loading in young female subjects. In addition, we evaluated whether the psychophysiological responses in subjects with a cold constitution differed from those in normal subjects. The subjects with or without a cold constitution were classified based on a questionnaire regarding the coldness of the body.Subjects participated in the two experiments under similar environmental conditions (room temperature:27°C) in winter (February to March) and in summer　(July to August).In experiment 1,　subjects immersed their hand in 20°C　water for 2 min, followed by a　10-min recovery period. In experiment 2, a small skin area (6 ㎠ ) on the dorsal foot and calf was locally heated from 32°C to 42°C. After immersion of the hand in the cool water, the palmar skin temperature and thermal sensation in the hand recovered slower in winter than in summer, and the sensitivity to warm sensation and the increase in skin blood flow during local skin heating in the dorsal foot were lower in summer. These results suggested that 1) local skin vasodilator function at peripheral sites in limbs exhibits seasonal variation, and 2) young females with a cold constitution have slower recovery of palmar skin temperature after hand immersion in cool water and an attenuated vasodilator response to local heating in the skin of the lower limb in summer.

[ISSN]2189-4825