[at-l] Cold Questions

[dfaddleton@mindspring.com (David)]

I've been reading with interest the posts on hypothermia and I have a =
question to put to the physiologists on the list. The question has to do =
with acclimitization, or learning to live in a cold environment, or the =
difference between *feeling* cold (subjective) vs objective hypothermia =
. . .=20

A long long time ago in a galaxy far far away I read a story about a =
Russian anthropological discovery of a group of people who lived =
practically naked somewhere in Siberia, showing an impervious attitude =
to cold weather which tended to frighten the more civilized =
anthropologist . . . The point of the essay or article or whatever had =
to do with the ability of the human body to deal with extreme cold with =
"training" . . .

>From my own experience I learned in high school how I continued to feel =
warm for three to four days after arriving at boarding school, elevation =
7,000 ft in late winter or early spring from the much warmer desert in =
southern Pakistan. After that period I needed to "adjust" to the new =
climate during which I felt considerable discomfort, but after the =
period of adjustment to the colder climate I no longer needed to bundle =
up . . .

While living in the Chicago area in the 70s and early 80s I observed how =
I could run around in short sleeves in the springtime when the =
temperatures approached 25*F; in the fall, however, when the temps =
dipped to the 40s, I felt compelled to bundle up in layers . . . I =
consciously began to "acclimate" my body to the cold in late fall by =
refusing to wear outerwear and found the winter a good deal easier to =
deal with . . .

Most recently, over new years eve on Springer when temps dipped to 6*F =
there's no question that I felt considerable cold. But, when finally =
settling down in my sleeping bag for the night I did not feel cold until =
I slipped the hand warmers my daughter gave me for the night. Those =
things warmed my body up to "shivering" and considerable discomfort =
compared to what I felt before I put them in. Eventually the shivering =
subsided and I fell asleep.

I guess I'm asking what physiologists consider to be "objectively" cold =
or dangerous vs what we may feel at any particular time . . .

David Addleton
vocate atque non vocate deus aderit
http://dfaddleton.home.mindspring.com
http://dfaddleton.50megs.com


--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
multipart/alternative
  text/plain (text body -- kept)
  text/html
---