OLDNESS AND HUMAN BEINGS - FROM THE VIEW POINT OF CLOTHING PHYSIOLOGY

Sep 29, 2026

Study examines how daily clothing habits influence human physiological responses to coldness, emphasizing seasonal metabolic changes and individual variation. Using research findings on Japanese populations and comparisons across races, the work analyzes cold reactions by focusing on Eskimos versus non-Eskimos under controlled room and water-bath conditions. Results highlight differences in metabolism, skin temperature, evaporative and non-evaporative heat loss, respiratory heat loss, and tissue thermal conductance.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages44

Reading Time1 h 51 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Coldness and Physiological Reaction

Okua,明HIRcm Coldness and human beings -from the view-Oint o Iothing hyi0I0gyI4PSen i Seihin Shohi Kagaku 24,9:4-9(1983)。Filed: TRANSLATION NO.4437SEk SESKB9 en i Seihin Shohi Kagaku 4,no.9:4-9(1983) T R A N S LA T I O N # OLDNESS AND HUMAN BEINGS一FROM THE VIEW POINT OF CLOTHING PHYSIOLOGYHiRomiy TOKURATadahiro,Nara Joshi University · INTRODUCTION One of my interests is to study how the way of dressing in daily liferflcences hunan beings'physiological reaction toward coldness.It has beenhown that Japanese baeal metabolisn is low in suamer,and gradually increasesn fall and winter.According to Nagata(1),this phenomenon of increasedetabolism as winter approaches cen be shovn to differ depending on how heavilyPopulation normally dresses.Yet,there is another roport〔2〕,which claiashat physiological reactions can be different,even among individuals of theame race,if the individuals'ordinary life environnents are differentn this paper,I would like to introduce the variation of physiologicaleaction toward coldness among different races who live within different lenvironments.Secondly,I would like to discuss the role of clothing from theviewpoint of physiological reaction to coldness.In this paper,you can finddetailed information or technical terns in the bibliogrepry # 2. COLDNESS AND PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTION How do Eskinos who live in polar areas react to the cold ?Do they havesignificant differences compared with people who live in areas with mild reather?These questions interested Rennie[3],so he compared the body temperaturecontrol reaction of Eskimos to tat of white people.Both groups wore only cottonshorts.The comparison of metabolism in various room temperatures,as can beseen in Table I,showed that Eskimos'metabolism is about 20 kcal/m2ohr higherthan that of whites in Table I。Stezdy s::e me:abolism of Eskimos·2nd noa-Eskimos inai:zne wa;er. When inmersed in 33℃ and 35℃ water bath,Eskimos'tissue metabolism is againhigher than whites'.Why does this big difference occur under the sane condition?Some sources claim that Eskimos'high metabolism is due to their daily diet of 65%protein and fat,rather than to their bodies being accustomed to the cold.However,Eskimo'g netabolism is known to be high in winter and yet low in summer.This may have something to do vith body temperature control. 3 et us consider behavior of tissue heat flux. A Fig.1. C Pigure I-A shows the conparison of rectal tenperature and average skin temperatureLnong vhites and Eskinos within the various environmental temperatures.The rectallemperature does not show any difference between Eskinos and whites.But the skinenperature plot shows clearly that Eskimos'skin temperature is higher than whites',Ispecially at room temperatures below 30°℃.Figure I-B shows the comparison of res-一piratory heat loss(shon at the top of the figure),the non-evaporative ROOM TEMPERATURE,C B A.Sready s:23e recta!temperatures and average skin temperatures at 5 room temperu:resfrom 35 to 23C.Each point is aversge of2 Eskimos and2 non-Eskimos who were eposeisimu):aneously.B.Channels of heat loss from 6 Eskimɔs and 6 non-Eskimo subjects exposecfor 3 hr :o each of5 room temperarures Values are averaged foz en:ire period o:exposure. C.Tissue :hermal conductance in kcal m²h:C fo:Eskimos and non-Eskimos 3:each oi 5 roomtemperatures.Conductznce was calculated from O:consump:ion and bocy tempe:3:uresmezsured during steacy stase condi:ions of 3rd h:.From Rennie et ai.wi:h permission. 4 zeat loss by an emission,a conduction,or a convection current(shown in the middlebf the figure),and the skin evaporative heat loss(shown at the bottom of thefigure),among Eskimos and whites.Eskimos'respiratory heat loss is 1-2kcal/m²hrhigher than whites'.This result depends on the number of breaths per minute.The non-evaporative heat loss does not show any difference at more than 30°℃room temperature.Howevor,Eskinos have 9-12 kcal/hr more than whites at lowroon tenperatures.T

FAQs

How does clothing relate to physiological cold response in the paper?

The paper discusses how dressing levels can affect how physiology responds to coldness and seasonal changes, influencing metabolic reactions as winter approaches.

What comparison does the paper make regarding cold response?

It compares Eskimos living in polar areas with people in milder climates (non-Eskimos/whites), evaluating body temperature control reactions under controlled conditions.

What main physiological differences are reported between Eskimos and whites?

The paper reports higher metabolism, higher skin temperature, greater evaporative heat loss, higher respiratory heat loss, and higher tissue thermal conductance in Eskimos under many test conditions.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by mieayamfan