Citation

Naidu M, Sachdeva U. Int. J. Biometeorol. 1993; 37(4): 218-221.

Affiliation

Department of Physiology, All India, Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, International Society of Biometeorology, Publisher Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8112880

Abstract

Alterations to the finger skin temperature (Tsk) and blood flow (FBF) before and after cold immersion on exposure to an Antarctic environment for 8 weeks were studied in 64 subjects. There was a significant fall in Tsk and increase in finger blood flow after 1 week of Antarctic exposure. The Tsk did not further change even after 8 weeks of stay in Antarctica but a significant increase in FBF was obtained after 8 weeks. The cold immersion test was performed at non-Antarctic and Antarctic conditions by immersing the hand for 2 min in 0-4 degrees C cold water. In the non-Antarctic environment the Tsk and FBF dropped significantly (P < 0.001) indicating a vasoconstriction response. Interestingly after 8 weeks of stay in Antarctic conditions, the skin temperature dropped (P < 0.001) but the cold induced fall in FBF was inhibited. Based on these observations it may be hypothesized that continuous cold exposure in Antarctica results in vasodilatation, which overrides the stronger vasoactive response of acute cold exposure and thus prevents cold injuries.

Language: en