COLD AND WARMTH VASOCONSTRICTOR RESPONSES IN THE SKIN OF MAN

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Abstract
Studies on the vasoconstrictor skin responses to cold and heat of 53 normal subjects are reported. The subjects were placed in a thermostatically controlled heating cabinet, with the head and right arm protruding. Blood flow changes in the fingers were recorded using a venous occlusion plethysmograph. Stimulus of cold was removed from the surface of the body by warming the heating cabinet to 36[degree]C. Removal of the cold stimulus produced considerable skin vasodilation without significant change in rectal temp. Subsequent exposure to temps. hotter or colder than the body caused reflex vaso-constriction in the skin, the response being diminished or abolished by high rectal temp. In some apparently healthy men, the cold vasoconstrictor responses are exaggerated. The rectal temp. in this group is significantly lower than that of normal subjects. Cold hypersensitivity has been found in a few cases of Raynoud''s disease and acrocyanosis.
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