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  Use of thermoregulatory material to improve exercise performanceUSPTO Application #: 20060150295Title: Use of thermoregulatory material to improve exercise performance Abstract: The use of a thermoregulating composition of matter, such as DRiWATER®, to help thermoregulate a subject user is disclosed. In preferred embodiments, the composition can be situated over significant surface area portions of the user's body (such as by garment-like coverage of substantial portions of the user, on the torso, arms, legs, head, etc., for example) or it can be situated at discrete locations (such as by packs or packets of the material at strategic, heat-intensive areas of the user, for example). Additionally, the composition can be delivered by a variety of means (e.g., directly or indirectly, contained within packets made of either breathable or closed cell material, etc.) to provide the thermoregulatory effects, according to preferred embodiments of the present invention. (end of abstract) Agent: Richard A Nebb Dergosits & Noah - San Francisco, CA, US Inventor: Joseph Paternoster USPTO Applicaton #: 20060150295 - Class: 002069000 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Apparel, Body Garments The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060150295. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates generally to the use of a thermoregulatory material to improve exercise performance, and more specifically to use of such material to improve exercise performance in the heat by maintenance of core temperature, by increasing exercise tolerance time, and/or by the chemical/phase-change properties of the material. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I. Thermoregulation During Exercise, or High Temperature Exposure [0002] The physiological requirements for thermoregulation during exercise or high temperature exposure are considerable and if proper measures are not in place to maintain homeostasis, heat exposure can sometimes lead to death. Body temperature, or specifically core temperature is in constant dynamic equilibrium with factors that can add and subtract heat from the body. This balance is maintained by the integration of mechanisms that alter heat transfer to the periphery, regulate evaporative cooling, and vary the rate of the body's heat production. Quite simply, if heat gain exceeds heat loss, which frequently occurs during vigorous exercise, the core temperature of the body rises. [0003] Specifically, core temperature is in constant dynamic equilibrium with factors that can add and subtract heat from the body. Methods by which the body loses heat energy include radiation, convection, conduction and evaporation. During radiation, the body loses heat in the form of infrared heat rays, or electromagnetic waves that radiate from the skin to any surrounding fluid that is cooler than the skin itself. This loss increases as the temperature of the surroundings decreases. Conduction is the least significant form of heat loss under abnormal conditions, such as touching an object that is cooler then the temperature of the skin's surface. However, heat is actually the kinetic energy of molecular motion, and the molecules that compose the skin of body are continuously undergoing vibratory motion. Thus, the vibratory motion of the skin molecules can cause increased velocity of motion of the air molecules that come into contact with the skin. The signals that arise in peripheral receptors (that of the skin) are transmitted to the posterior hypothalamus, where they are integrated with the receptor signals from the anterior hypothalamic preoptic area to give the final efferent signals for controlling heat loss and heat production. Therefore, we generally speak of the overall hypothalamic temperature control mechanism as the hypothalamic thermostat (Guyton et al, 1997). The temperature of the air immediately adjacent to the skin approaches the temperature of the skin, and an additional exchange of heat from the body to the air is self-limited unless the heated air moves away from the skin so that new, unheated air is continuously brought in contact with the skin, a phenomenon called convection (Guyton et al, 1997). [0004] Evaporation is another means of simply sweating, uncontrollably, the heat from the body, all controlled by the body's own thermostat, the hypothalamus. The equilibrium or core temperature is maintained by the integration of mechanisms that alter heat transfer to the periphery, regulate evaporative cooling, and vary the rate of the body's heat production. If heat gain exceeds or is greater than heat loss, which occurs frequently during intense or heat stressed exercises, the core temperature of the body increases. If dehydration (loss of fluids, extracellular and more critically, intracellular) progresses and plasma volume (concentration of water in blood plasma) continues to decrease, sweat rates decrease or become reduced and thermoregulation becomes progressively more difficult. Outlined in a study by Morimoto et al. (1998), dehydration impairs thermoregulation, reducing both sweating and cutaneous vasodilation, while dehydration-induced hyperosmolality causes a shift of body fluid from ICF to ECF and also stimulates drinking behavior, which counteracts the decrease in blood volume. According to Kerslake (1972), an elevated heart rate during dehydration is attributed to a reduced central blood volume, which leads to a lower ventricular filling pressure, and a 25% to 30% reduction in the heart's stroke volume, while the elevation in core temperature is related to a reduction in both sweating rates and blood flow to the skin. Not only does the body core increase in the heat, but also the correlating reduction in plasma volume could lead to circulatory failure. In addition, maximal cardiac output and VO2max are reduced during exercise in the heat because the reflex compensatory increase in heart rate is insufficient to offset the stroke volume decrease (McArdle et al., 1996). Stroke volume during exercise in different environmental conditions combined with hydration increases due to an increase in heart rate and a reduced blood volume in both hot and cold environments (Gonzalez-alonzo et al., 2000). [0005] According to Crandall et al., cardiopulmonary baroreceptor unloading coinciding with passive heating attenuates the elevation in cutaneous vascular conductance. In other words, skin blood flow can be modulated by such baroreceptors. Also, the infusion of saline, a substance that increases cellular osmolarity, was found to increase skin blood flow during passive heating (??1999). [0006] Although there seems to be a lag in the onset of sweating at the beginning of exercise, it has been well documented that sweating (evaporation) provides the major physiologic defense against overheating. Heat is continually being evaporated through the skin into the environment as water. The sweating rate of any given individual is dependent upon the climatic conditions/environmental acclimation, the type of clothing worn, and the level of exercise intensity. (Sawka et al., 1998.) Sawka et al. conclude that persons wearing protective clothing often have sweating rates of 1 to 2 Lh.sup.-1 while performing light intensity exercise. Protective clothing such as the nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) ensemble worn by military personnel, the protective equipment worn by football players, or the sauna suit features high insulation and low water vapor permeability, due to the thickness and the multilayered fabric design. This layering effect traps insulative air layers around the body and impairs the transfer of heat to the environment. The limited evaporative heat loss allowed by the protective clothing, combined with an increased metabolic heat production and high ambient temperature, can increase the body's core temperature to dangerously high levels. These conditions define uncompensable heat stress, wherein the evaporative cooling requirements (E.sub.req) greatly exceed the maximum evaporative potential (E.sub.max), which maintains thermal equilibrium. It is not uncommon, therefore, for conditions that would normally be defined as compensable heat stress, to become uncompensable when protective clothing is worn (McLellan et al., 1999). The heat strain associated with wearing NBC protective clothing has been studied for many different combinations of ambient temperature, vapor pressure, and metabolic rate (Carter and Cammermyer, 1985; Kraning and Gonzalez, 1991; McLellan, 1993; Montain et al., 1994). II. Plasma Volume During Exercise and/or High Temperature Exposure [0007] Water provides the solvent for biochemical reactions within cells, is the medium for material transport, and is essential for maintaining an adequate blood volume (Sawka and Coyle, 1999). A few hours of intense physical exercise in a hot environment can cause water loss to reach a significant level. This dehydration, both from the intracellular and extracellular compartments, and thus, total body water (TBW) can seriously impede heat dissipation, reduce heat tolerance, and can have even more adverse effects on cardiovascular function and exercise capacity. The effect of exercising in the heat also causes serious decreases in blood plasma volume. Sawka et al. (1996), state that TBW and blood volume have critical influences on human thermoregulation and the performance of exercise in the heat. [0008] Latzka et al. (1997), examined the effects of hyperhydration and glycerol loading in subjects while they performed heat-stressed exercise bouts, and found that both hyperhydration and an increase in glycerol had beneficial effects on thermoregulation, such as increased sweat rates. However, neither hyperhydration nor glycerol loading provided any thermoregulatory advantage over the maintenance of euhydration during compensable heat stress, even after acclimatization took place (Latzka et al, 1997). Further, Armstrong et al. (1997), examined the effects of hypohydration, dehydration, and water intake during exercise in the heat, and found that after an increase in water intake (increased load on plasma volume) resulted in a greater increase in the need to maintain hydration levels at a consistent level with that of initial water intake levels. It was also suggested that changes in plasma osmolarity levels from loading before exercise in the heat, rate of fluid intake combined with core temperatures (CRTP) and skin blood flow (SKFL) may suggest that heavy loads of water intake during exercise may not be beneficial for thermoregulatory effectiveness during such conditions (Armstrong et al., 1997). The authors also observed the same osmotic loading with food intake; concluding that both should be avoided in prolonged exercise bouts in the heat. [0009] During exercise as dehydration progresses thermoregulation becomes progressively more difficult, due to the fact that a large portion of water loss through sweating comes from the blood plasma, the body's circulatory capacity is adversely affected as sweat loss progresses. Sawka et al., (1992), states this is evident by a decrease in plasma volume, a reduced skin blood flow for any given core temperature, a decrease in stroke volume and heart rate, and a overall decrease in circulatory and thermoregulatory efficiency. [0010] The goal of any rehydration strategy is to maintain plasma volume so that circulation and sweating can progress at optimal levels. The intake of fluid during exercise increases the blood flow to the skin, which allows for more effective cooling. In addition, it is well documented that fluid replacement is an important determinant of exercise tolerance time (TT) (Noakes, 1993). Cheung and McLellan (1998) reported that fluid replacement during uncompensable heat stress resulted in a significantly lower heart rate and longer (TT). Although their findings are consistent, it seems to lack evidence on the importance of hydration status during uncompensable heat stress. A consensus written by Maughan, and Shirreffs, (1998), outlines that dehydration per se, even without concomitant hyperthermia may cause the general responses outlined above. Maughan and Shirreffs concluded, that an individual who is both dehydrated and hyperthermic attempts to maintain an adequate cardiac output by an increase in systematic vascular resistance. [0011] Baroreceptors in general, play an important role in regulation of arterial pressure. When arterioles stretch, baroreceptor are stimulated and send barorages up to the medulla of the brain and in turn send pulses to the heart to slow down its pumping actions. An important study by Crandall et al., (1999), suggested that exposure to heat stress could possibly be related to an unloading of baroreceptors causing a resulting increase in skin blood flow. At this point, little is know as to why the increase in temperature causes this unloading to happen, and the authors of this study conclude that thermoregulatory differences from person to person should be highly considered due to possible acclimatized differences. III. Thermoregulation in Sports [0012] Sports and exercise are perfect conditions to study the effects of heat-stress caused by the environment. Sports is an area where exercise intensity levels range from very moderate, to extreme conditions. Some sports, such as long distance running or rowing have outcomes that are not only affected by fitness levels of the athletes, but by environmental stresses as well. Such sports as football have gained much attention surrounding the quality of practices and the threatening conditions to which players are exposed. Players can end up wearing equipment that adds upwards of an extra 15 lbs. This extra weight from the amount of equipment causes the players to sweat more as their muscles have to work that much harder to compensate for the additional weight. Although advances have been made in the quality of equipment that is used by such athletes, additional weight still causes an increased stress load on the body. While most of today's equipment is designed to allow proper ventilation, professionals in various sports still have to contend with the increasing stresses placed on the body caused by the environment. Accounts have been filed concerning death related to exhaustion caused by heat-stress in overweight football players. Players are trained mentally to push themselves beyond the point of exhaustion in hot-dry environmental conditions, which in Minnesota Viking Corey Stringer's case ended his life instantly. [0013] Athletes of all sports are equipped with the knowledge or provided the coaching to ensure that proper fluid intake is maintained throughout strenuous bouts of exercise. However, fluid intake is only a small part that has to be played in protecting oneself against thermo-exhaustion. Many studies have been conducted concerning the affects of fluid intake and electrolyte balancing, body positioning relative to strenuous exercise, fatigue factors, pattern changes of heat and humidity, and other tolerance variables. An increase in total body water has been suggested to improve thermoregulation during exercise in the heat above euhydration levels (Latzka, et al., 1998). Many related studies have reported that hyperhydration can reduce thermal strain (Johnson et al., 1996; Kraning, K et al., 1991; Lind, 1973; Nielsen et al. 1979), whereas others have suggested that no such thermoregulatory advantage is evident (Latzka et al., 1998). While this seems to be an ongoing debate whether increased hydration does have an effect on thermoregulation, Latzka et al., notes that other studies conducted show increases in water and glycerol intake significantly increase plasma volume, but have no immediate effect on sweat rate or affect on core temperature in either trained or untrained athletes (1998). [0014] Humidity can also be an important factor during performance in the heat. Cochrane et al., (1999) examined the effect that humidity has on thermoregulation of endurance athletes. It was found that trained endurance subjects, although there was a slight variation in plasma volume and sweat rate, heat load was the greatest factor affecting thermoregulation. Although this study notes humidity as non-threatening to thermoregulation, more research should be conducted on the effects of humidity on thermoregulation on athletes who wear various forms of equipment that impede sweat rates. IV. Thermoregulatory Strategies [0015] In sports, athletes have to be able to perform at optimal levels sometimes regardless of environmental conditions. Professional athletes in sports such as football, marathon running, rowing, ball hockey, and field lacrosse are just a few examples where the sport is played outdoors and heat exposure is frequent, and remains a constant concern for all involved with the sports. As mentioned before, equipment, fluid intake, environmental conditions and thermoregulatory properties of each individual all contribute to an increased risk of possible thermo exhaustion. Some studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of thermoregulatory strategies during heat-stress. Previous research has shown findings suggesting useful methods to use in order to help maintain homeostasis in the heat. Cochrane et al., (1999) performed a study on the changing patterns of heat and humidity and the influence on thermoregulation and endurance performance. The authors also investigated which time of day would be best to hold an endurance competition based on environmental stress on the body. They proposed that a warming pattern or temperature change (morning) would allow maintenance of homeostasis better than a cooling pattern or temperature change (afternoon). The study consisted of a two-hour exercise session during which increasing temperature and decreasing relative humidity conditions were compared to an identical exercise session during a pattern of decreasing temperature and increasing relative humidity. Results from this study showed that as the days of testing continued, heart rate decreased and sweat rate increased from 1.08 l/day to 1.18 l/day given similar testing conditions. The authors concluded that mean heat load is more important than patterns of change in temperature and humidity in determining whether homeostasis in the heat can be maintained. Although sweat rate was higher in the cooling conditions during tests than in the warming conditions, homeostasis was achieved and was similar between the cooling and warming conditions. [0016] According to Latzka et al., (1998), dehydration during prolonged exercise in the heat is already known to exacerbate cardiovascular strain, increase core temperature and impair endurance performance compared with when fluids are ingested during exercise. Gonzalez-Alonzo et al. (1997) examined the amount of cardiovascular stress produced in several conditions, including the combination of dehydration and hyperthermia during moderately intense exercise in the heat, dehydration alone, and hyperthermia alone. While skin temperature remained similar through out all three conditions, the combined effect of dehydration with hyperthermia showed the greatest reduction in stroke volume, increase in heart rate, and a decline in mean arterial pressure. [0017] During heat acclimatization, athletes will spend upwards of several days in an environment that is similar to that of the following competition. This is nothing new to athletes in sports such as marathon running, or even triathletes. Although acclimatization has been proven to be an effective mechanism against environmental stresses, athletes of some other sports cannot afford the luxury of spending several days to weeks being acclimatized. For these athletes the best self-defense remains fluid intake for exercise bouts in heat stressed conditions. Rivera-Brown et al (1999), examined the effects of beverage composition on the voluntary drinking pattern, body fluid balance, and thermoregulation of heat-acclimatized trained boys exercising intermittently in outdoor conditions. It was found that flavored drinks with 6% carbohydrate and 18 mmol/l NaCl solution resulted in an increase in intake of 32% compared with water in trained heat-acclimatized boys exercising in tropical climate and the flavored carbo-electrolyte drink prevented voluntary dehydration in the boys who exhibited high sweating rates when exercising in a tropical climate. This study clearly shows the importance of electrolyte replacement after strenuous bouts of exercise in heat-stressed environments. The importance of electrolyte replacement in fluid forms (with NaCl), remains the most important factor in overall recovery during thermoregulation after exercise in heat stressed environments. Not only is proper fluid intake important in maintaining homeostasis within the body, other problems that are associated with prolonged exercise in the heat related to the development of fatigue. As athletes in professional sports where environmental conditions become a health factor, it is important to consider whether or not fatigue has any influence on thermoregulation. Gonzalez-Alonzo et al., (1999) examined such a problem and found literature that supported the hypothesis in which critically high body temperatures could relate to fatigue in untrained athlete during light exercise in a heat-stressed environment. In this particular study, the main finding was that fatigue during exercise in the heat was related to high internal body temperature. As internal temperature was increased due to different environmental conditions throughout the study, fatigue set in more quickly than in cooler environmental conditions. [0018] The timing of fluid intake can also be a contributing factory effecting thermoregulation. According to Gonzalez-Alonzo et al., (1999) fluid amounts and replacement times are just one factor that contributes to thermoregulation during heat-stressed exercise. When examining the effects of exercise while in a supine position compared to upright, it was found that supine versus upright exercise attenuated the increase in heart rate, and a reduction in stroke volume and cardiac output. Even though this particular study does shed a new light onto the effectiveness of exercising in various body positions, it still does not eliminate the problems associated with regular exercise or sports participation while in an upright position. Continue reading... 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