We have seen that essential hypertension is caused
by the skin condition of miliaria profunda. Sweat exuding under
pressure from
ruptured sweat ducts destroys capilliaries in the surrounding
lower dermis, causing blood pressure to rise.
This miliaria profunda is most likely to be prevalent
in the skin of the lower legs, as the sweat glands of the lower
legs only become involved in copious sweat output after a very
prolonged period of exercise or exposure to heat. Without such
exercise or exposure to heat the sweat ducts go into adverse habituation,
and become blocked.
Let us consider people who are immobile, or fairly
immobile, such as elderly persons who remain seated for long periods,
persons standing for long periods, or persons travelling seated
in trains, buses or aircraft. Without movement of the legs involving
heat producing exercise of the leg muscles, the sweat exuding
into the skin from the ruptured sweat ducts will form pools. These
pools remain under pressure and may rupture arterioles as well
as capilliaries, with the obvious danger of the formation of thrombi.
This pooling of sweat fluid in the skin of the legs can be mitigated
to some extent by providing counter pressure in the form of support
stockings.
However persons who are likely to be affected can
protect themselves from sweat duct blockage by taking ActivSignalTM, a new invention by Warren Ward. ActivSignalTM
is carefully designed for signalling only and, unlike all other
medicines, are not absorbed into the body. ActivSignalTM
is designed to signal to the body that there is a surplus
of electrolytes, thus keeping the sweat ducts clear.
The first commercial ActivSignal product is now under development.
There are some reasons why air travellers in particular are more
liable to get thrombosis. One is the availability of excess alcohol
which has the effect of raising serum sodium, and thus sweat sodium,
above the level for the effectiveness of anti-microbial peptides.
It is not possible to signal with ActivSignalTM against excess sodium,
so the answer lies in moderation of alcohol intake.
Another danger arises if aircraft cabin pressure drops (even
on a short haul flight) below the level to which the passenger is habituated.
The rapid body response to lower air pressure, and therefore less
oxygen, is to provide more haemoglobin in serum. Haemoglobin makes
a contribution to osmolality, so that as circulating haemoglobin
rises, so sodium falls. This fall triggers miliaria and the pooling
of the sweat in the lower legs, which may lead to thrombosis.
ActivSignalTM prevents miliaria from this cause,
providing the passenger is willing to forgo excess alcohol.
If it is technically possible, it would also be very desirable to maintain cabin pressure at ground level atmospheric pressure.
