Effects of salicylate on acclimatization to work in the heat

¹ U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, Massachusetts

Some effects of daily large doses of sodium salicylate were studied on the pattern of acclimatization to work in the heat. Acclimatization was induced by daily walks of 100 min on a level treadmill at 3.5 mph at 120/80 F (dry bulb/wet bulb). Two matched groups of six men each were acclimatized in this manner and one group received 5.9–7.8 g of sodium salicylate daily over a period of 10 days. Men treated with salicylate exhibited the same qualitative responses as the control group in terms of the acclimatization process, i.e., their rectal temperatures, skin temperatures, and pulse rates during work in the heat were lower on the later days. Quantitatively, the degree of acclimatization (as measured by rectal temperature) was less in the men receiving salicylate than in the control group. This difference was more apparent than real, however, in that when the salicylate group were taken off the drug regimen, they exhibited the same degree of acclimatization in terms of rectal temperature as did the control group. The acclimatization process did not abolish the acute response to salicylate.

Submitted on June 15, 1964