@article{ref1,
title="Sex difference in cold perception and shivering onset upon gradual cold exposure",
journal="Journal of thermal biology",
year="2018",
author="Kaikaew, Kasiphak and van den Beukel, Johanna C. and Neggers, Sebastian J. C. M. M. and Themmen, Axel P. N. and Visser, Jenny A. and Grefhorst, Aldo",
volume="77",
number="",
pages="137-144",
abstract="To maintain a thermal balance when experiencing cold, humans reduce heat loss and enhance heat production. A potent and rapid mechanism for heat generation is shivering. Research has shown that women prefer a warmer environment and feel less comfortable than men in the same thermal condition. Using the Blanketrol<sup>®</sup> III, a temperature management device commonly used to study brown adipose tissue activity, we tested whether the experimental temperature (T<sub>E</sub>) at which men and women start to shiver differs. Twenty male and 23 female volunteers underwent a cooling protocol, starting at 24 °C and gradually decreasing by 1-2 °C every 5 min until an electromyogram detected the shivering or the temperature reached 9 °C. Women started shivering at a higher T<sub>E</sub> than men (11.3 ± 1.8 °C for women vs 9.6 ± 1.8 °C for men, P = 0.003). In addition, women felt cool, scored by a visual analogue scale, at a higher T<sub>E</sub> than men (18.3 ± 3.0 °C for women vs 14.6 ± 2.6 °C for men, P < 0.001). This study demonstrates a sex difference in response to cold exposure: women require shivering as a source of heat production earlier than men. This difference could be important and sex should be considered when using cooling protocols in physiological studies.<br><br>Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0306-4565",
doi="10.1016/j.jtherbio.2018.08.016",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2018.08.016"
}