Reactions to cold.

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A very fat and an average man were exposed for 2-hr, periods on 3 different occasions at each of these air temperatures, 27, 20, 15, 10, and 5 C. Measurements were made of metabolic rates and skin and rectal temperatures. In these ranges of air temperatures, the average skin temperature of the fat man was lower than that of the average man. Heat conductances of the average man were twice those of the fat man. A sharp increase in metabolism occurred when the average skin temperature fell below 30 C in the average man and below 25 C in the fat man. The latter probably became habituated to a lower average skin temperature. Heat conductances of both men fell sharply to minimum values as the average skin temperatures fell to 27 C. In cold conditions, vasoconstriction of peripheral blood vessels may be directly related to the level of skin temperature, whereas the relationship between skin temperature and shivering is influenced by other factors, such as habituation to cold, depth of sleep, etc.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: