Could your tattoos put you at risk of heat stroke?

Conclusion The study showed that artificially stimulating sweat glands in a tattooed area of skin in 10 men produced a lower sweat rate than stimulating sweat glands in a non-tattooed area of skin in the same person. The authors suggest a number of possible explanations for this, including that it may be because tattooing skin starts an inflammatory response that may cause damage to normal tissue including sweat glands. However, these are only theories and need to be investigated further. While this is interesting preliminary research, there are some important things to remember: There were only 10 male participants involved in the study. A much larger study would be needed to see if the findings still hold true. 7 out of 10 participants had their tattooed skin tested first. This might have had an effect on their sweat rate, for example if their body continued producing sweat from the first round and this was included when their non-tattooed skin was later tested. The sweat glands were artificially stimulated in an environment where the level of heat was kept constant. We don't know if this represents the sweat response caused by over-heating in the real-life situation. We certainly don't know whether it could have effects in terms of making you more likely to over-heat and develop heat exhaustion or heat stroke, as with the media's rather bold assumption. In any case, even if tattoos do impair sweating, the odd couple of tattoos scattered on your skin are unlikel...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news