ArticleAmerican journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology2017
Acute limb heating improves macro- and microvascular dilator function in the leg of aged humans.
Article in American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06932250 (Vascular and Neural Mechanisms of Chronic Leg Heating in Pregnant Women With Obesity), which is not on this map. Cited by 50 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Vascular and Neural Mechanisms of Chronic Leg Heating in Pregnant Women With Obesity
Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 90 citations in OpenAlex.
- Meta-analysis of heat-induced changes in cardiac function from over 400 laboratory-based heat exposure studies.Nature communications · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of Alternating Mild-Cold and Hot Water Immersion on Lower-Leg Blood Flow Following Immersion in Healthy Young Adults.Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports · 2026Trial
- Feasibility of unsupervised, home-based leg heat therapy in older adults: a pilot, sham-controlled trial.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2025Trial
- Folic acid ingestion improves skeletal muscle blood flow during graded handgrip and plantar flexion exercise in aged humans.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2017Trial
- Plantar Foot Microvascular Reactivity and Oxygenation in Type 2 Diabetes and Peripheral Artery Disease: An Exploratory Study.Microcirculation (New York, N.Y. : 1994) · 2026Article
- Three hours of targeted limb passive heating increases conduit artery shear rates and lowers vascular stiffness.Physiological reports · 2026Article
- Ageing attenuates regional vasoconstriction during acute lowering of upper and lower limbs.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Heat Therapy: Targeting Health, Disease, and Disability.Comprehensive Physiology · 2026Review
- Eight weeks of post-exercise local heating does not improve cognition and plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor concentrations.Experimental physiology · 2025Article
- Heat thermotherapy to improve cardiovascular function and cardiometabolic health: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Experimental physiology · 2025Article
- Whole-body hot water immersion effect on cerebral haemodynamics and subsequent cerebrovascular reactivity to carbon dioxide.Experimental physiology · 2025Article
- Systemic cardiovascular and carotid baroreflex support of arterial pressure during recovery from passive heat stress in young and older adults.Physiological reports · 2025Article
- Leg vascular function with advancing age in men: the impact of physical activity and endurance exercise training.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2025Article
- Comparison of thermoregulatory, cardiovascular, and immune responses to different passive heat therapy modalities.American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology · 2025Article
- Home-based heat therapy lowers blood pressure and improves endothelial function in older adults.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2025Article
- Improving glycemic control via heat therapy in older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease (FIGHT-AD): a pilot study.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2025Article
- Experimental research in environmentally induced hyperthermic older persons: A systematic quantitative literature review mapping the available evidence.Temperature (Austin, Tex.) · 2024Article
- Lower limb hyperthermia augments functional hyperaemia during small muscle mass exercise similarly in trained elderly and young humans.Experimental physiology · 2023Article
- Effect of acute heat exposure on the pressor response to a voluntary hypoxic apnea.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2023Article
- The acute effect of whole-body heat therapy on peripheral and cerebral vascular reactivity in Black and White females.Microvascular research · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Local heating of an extremity increases blood flow and vascular shear stress throughout the arterial tree. Local heating acutely improves macrovascular dilator function in the upper limbs of young healthy adults through a shear stress-dependent mechanism but has no such effect in the lower limbs of this age group. The effect of acute limb heating on dilator function within the atherosclerotic prone vasculature of the lower limbs of aged adults is unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that acute lower limb heating improves macro- and microvascular dilator function within the leg vasculature of aged adults. Nine young and nine aged adults immersed their lower limbs at a depth of ~33 cm into a heated (~42°C) circulated water bath for 45 min. Before and 30 min after heating, macro (flow-mediated dilation)- and microvascular (reactive hyperemia) dilator functions were assessed in the lower limb, following 5 min of arterial occlusion, via Doppler ultrasound. Compared with preheat, macrovascular dilator function was unchanged following heating in young adults (P = 0.6) but was improved in aged adults (P = 0.04). Similarly, microvascular dilator function, as assessed by peak reactive hyperemia, was unchanged following heating in young adults (P = 0.1) but was improved in aged adults (P < 0.01). Taken together, these data suggest that acute lower limb heating improves both macro- and microvascular dilator function in an age dependent manner. NEW & NOTEWORTHY: We demonstrate that lower limb heating acutely improves macro- and microvascular dilator function within the atherosclerotic prone vasculature of the leg in aged adults. These findings provide evidence for a potential therapeutic use of chronic lower limb heating to improve vascular health in primary aging and various disease conditions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.