Disclosed herein is a method for obtaining a value of at least one vasodilation parameter representing the cutaneous local thermal hyperemia response of a subject. The temperature of a sampling site is raised from a first temperature to a second temperature and maintained for an initial heating period, and an initial maximum red blood cell flux (RBCF) of the sampling site and a mean arterial pressure of the subject is obtained. An initial maximum cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC1,max) is calculated by dividing the initial maximum RBCF by the mean arterial pressure. The CVC1, max or at least one other parameter derived therefrom is used as the vasodilation parameter.
