Cardiac output during rest and exercise in desert heat.

Abstract

Cardiac output and stroke volume were measured in two environments and at metabolic rates ranging from rest to the maximum rate that could be sustained for 25 minutes. One environment was indoors at about 23 degrees C, the other outdoors in desert sunshine and low water vapor pressure. The age range of the one female and four of the male subjects was from 19 to 40; the fifth male subject was 85 years old. Cardiac output was the same in the two environments; stroke volume was less at higher metabolic rates in the heat. The cardiac output for the old man was about one-tenth less and stroke volume about 20 ml less than that observed for the same work 50 years earlier.