Heat Tolerance and Exertional Heat Illness in Female Military Recruits.
Abstract
We studied healthy Marine recruits (controls), and recruits with exertional heat illness (EHI) or dilutional hyponatremia (patients) during basic training. With swallowed telemetry devices, we recorded core-temperature (Tcore) of 380 male and 350 female recruits during training events with high incidence of EHI, to define norms for comparison with presenting Tcore of EHI patients. With a computerized cognitive assessment battery we established norms for controls, and demonstrated acute impairment in 14 patients, showing that the battery distinguishes patients from controls. We collected baseline blood samples from 30 female and 35 male controls, and serial samples from 4 EHI patients for a pilot study of inflammatory responses in EHI. We collected copies of clinical records and pertinent training records on all identified EHI episodes in 1995-1996 (126 cases), and constructed a new computerized database which is congruent with clinical data forms in the patient records. These cases increase the total number of cases in the databases for epidemiological analyses and, particularly, the much smaller numbers of cases (only since 1993) for which published recruit training schedules are available to verify the training event during which each EHI episode occurred; and of female cases whose menstrual cycle phase was recorded.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA327205
Entities
People
- Bruce C. Wenger
Organizations
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine