The Impact Of Palm-cooling On Multiple Sclerosis Patients During Exercise

Exercise has been proven to be beneficial in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, many don’t engage in exercise due to the negative side-effects it has, such as heat sensitivity due to the inability to dilate skin pores and perform evaporation. Heat intolerance is reported by 80% of patients with MS and cause many to turn away from exercise as a therapeutic tool. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to measure the amount of heat loss through the palms of participants with MS before, during, and after a moderate intensity stationary cycling exercise with and without palm cooling (PC) and compare the effects of PC on thermal and physiological variables. METHODS: The participants (n = 9) made three separate visits to the laboratory >2 days apart. The first visit was to obtain anthropometric data and to determine the individual’s aerobic capacity by completing the Astrand-Rhyming cycle test to determine prescribed workload. After random selection participants completed one workout with PC and another without PC (NoPC) lasting 25 minutes each against a prescribed workload. Physiological and thermal variables were collected before, during, and after the workouts while wearing specialized gloves. The workout with PC included 10.6 0C gel packs inserted in the gloves half-way during the 3-minute warm-up and removed at the end of the exercise. New gel packs were then reinserted intermittently every 15 minutes post-exercise. The NoPC protocol had the participants wear the specialized gloves without the gel packs throughout the visit. Variables measured included heart rate (HR), auditory canal temperature, palm-skin temperature, and the amount of heat transferred from the palms. Dependent variables were examined using two-way ANOVAs, with repeated measures for workout and time. RESULTS: Heart rate had a significant time effect. Palm temperature and heat transfer had significant two-way interactions. Heat transfer was greater from PC over multiple time points (p < 0.01) at an average of 381%. PC also led to significantly lower HRs over multiple time points (p < 0.01) at an average of 11.3%. CONCLUSION: PC resulted in a higher heat transfer from submaximal exercise in MS patients than with NoPC. These data suggest that conductive heat transfer provided by PC could offer physiological benefits during exercise. Supported by: NASA KY Space Grant Consortium