[Paddlewise] Cold Hand Adaptation

I have been told by a usually reliable source that adaptation to cold
actaully changes the type of fats in the body.  Basically, vegetable oil
resists solidification, but lard doesn't, and cold-adapted animals (and
people) have fats which resemble vegetable oil rather than lard.  Since the
hands are pretty much bone, fat and tendon, very cold hands could turn into
big lumps of frozen butter, especially if the circulation system shuts down
blood flow into them as part of the hypothermia reaction.

This would explain my experience with my inadvertent swim in the lake in
April, where my hands were functional in seconds, versus my non-cold adapted
buddy's hands taking 30 minutes to thaw out.  Add in adaptation of the
circulation system too, to get the complete picture.

Rob.


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