That is interesting. Exposure to cold increases thyroid activity and increases BMR which would account for "warmer hands." Could this acclimitazation, if in fact his test was valid, counter capacity for survival through increased heat loss? To enhance survival, one would think that Acclimitization to cold would cause the capilaries in the skin to descrease blood flow, rather than increase it. Not only would you need to "stoke the fires," but you would need even more so, to preserve the heat. Like the weddell seals. But, valid studies have shown that BRM is increased in acclimitazation. ..and in humans, It takes awhile for the "thermostat" to reset. So, where did all of the members of the expedition live? Were they *all* from Texas? (now that would be a better test) or were the inuit members from Alaska... and the other members from lower latitides? I'd like to read the "experiment." Robert > From: Chuck Holst <CHUCK_at_multitech.com> > Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2000 15:16:35 -0600 > During Paul Schurke's Bering Bridge Expedition several years ago, > acclimatization to cold was studied by, among other things, putting a > subject's hand into icewater and then measuring blood flow or something like > that. Though I don't remember the details, I remember Schurke saying that > the non-Inuit members of the expedition did show increased acclimatization > to cold over the course of the expedition. The prize, however, went to the > Inuit doctor on the expedition, whose hands stayed so warm during the test > that they kept melting the ice in the icewater! *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>> But, valid studies have shown that BRM is increased in acclimitazation. ..and in humans, It takes awhile for the "thermostat" to reset. So, where did all of the members of the expedition live? Were they *all* from Texas? (now that would be a better test) or were the inuit members from Alaska... and the other members from lower latitides? I'd like to read the "experiment." Robert >> The information I gave you is what I remember from a talk Schurke gave in Minneapolis shortly after the expedition. Schurke, at least, is from northern Minnesota, and the Inuit were from Alaska. There were Russians, also, and maybe a New Zealander. There is a cold research laboratory at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, and I think one or more of its researchers conducted the tests. That's all the info I have; maybe a search of the Web would turn up more. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Robert C. Cline wrote: > > That is interesting. Exposure to cold increases thyroid activity and > increases BMR which would account for "warmer hands." > > Could this acclimitazation, if in fact his test was valid, counter capacity > for survival through increased heat loss? > > To enhance survival, one would think that Acclimitization to cold would > cause the capilaries in the skin to descrease blood flow, rather than > increase it. Not only would you need to "stoke the fires," but you would > need even more so, to preserve the heat. Like the weddell seals. > > But, valid studies have shown that BRM is increased in acclimitazation. > ..and in humans, It takes awhile for the "thermostat" to reset. Aren't Tibetan monks able to sit in the cold in wet clothing and the garments dry quickly as if a warm dry room? Also it is evident, emperically, that some people can take the cold better than others. I remember seeing a fellow in my neighborhood who walked his dog in the dead of winter (15-20 degrees) in just shirt sleeves and tie and wandering with the critter for 20 minutes or more in blustery Central Park. I am, for some reason, blessed with warm hands. It takes a lot for them to get cold and even when working outdoors they remain warm to the touch. There is a range of tolerance. Some of it can be trained and some of it is in the individual inately. And some people do suffer from cold ears and cold hands and cold feet. ralph -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Tue, 11 Jan 2000, ralph diaz wrote: > There is a range of tolerance. Some of it can be trained and some of it > is in the individual inately. And some people do suffer from cold ears > and cold hands and cold feet. One of my canoeing cronies has a medical condition where if his hands get cold he's liable to pass out when he climbs out of the canoe. I've seen this happen a couple of times, it was quite scary the first time. He wears gloves on days the air temperature is below 50 degrees. He's now got a large collection of gloves to chose from... If I'm paddleing, and my hands will be staying dry, I don't usually wear gloves until the temperature/wind chill is close to freezing. kirk *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Kirk: That's amazing. Any idea what the name of this condition is? As for Schurke's experiment, I don't dispute that there is a process of acclimatization, or that there are physiological differences between populations or individuals descended from racial groups which have had 10,000 years of exposure to a particular climate. What I suggest is, that there does not appear to be any scientific articles by Schurke published, or at least indexed in the scientific literature on the web; no evidence of controls, and actually not a very "scientific" experiment. Of course I could be wrong. It's just an opinion. Thus, I'd like to read his "experiment." The only article my websearch found was an article by a P. Schurke at Washington State Univerity (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=10488145&form=6&db= m&Dopt=b) on stoichiometry of intermolecular binding sites of protien tubes in E. choli. Kirk Olsen <kolsen_at_imagelan.com> wrote: > One of my canoeing cronies has a medical condition where if his hands > get cold he's liable to pass out when he climbs out of the canoe. I've > seen this happen a couple of times, it was quite scary the first time. He > wears gloves on days the air temperature is below 50 degrees. He's now got > a large collection of gloves to chose from... *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>If I'm paddleing, and my hands will be staying dry, I don't usually wear >gloves until the temperature/wind chill is close to freezing. I have no difficulty with cold hands without gloves even down to the mid 30s so long as I am working. However, restriction of circulation seems to be a factor. If a drysuit gasket is too tight and/or squeezing down on the layers below, or there is a too tight velcro strap on the glove, then they will begin to feel painfully cold. Often a simple rearrangement of the layers or some other loosening is all I need to do. JP *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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