A group study at the University of Tsukuba and Niigata University of Health and Welfare found that it was difficult to feel the feeling of "cold" even when the body temperature dropped during exercise.
Despite the fact that muscles produce heat during exercise, hypothermia can occur when exercising in cold environments or in cold water.Regarding this mechanism, although it has been known that the temperature sensation of the skin becomes dull due to exercise, the effect of exercise on changes in the temperature sensation of the whole body and changes in the temperature sensation when the body temperature drops has not been sufficiently clarified so far. rice field.
In this study, 11 young men participated in the experiment, and the relationship between the characteristics of temperature sensation and exercise when the body temperature dropped was investigated.With the lower abdomen submerged in cold water at 18 ° C, the temperature sensation of the chest skin and the whole body was measured according to the stage of decrease in core body temperature, divided into the condition of maintaining sitting rest and the condition of performing low-intensity bicycle exercise. And compared.
As a result, there was no difference in the temperature sensation of the chest skin between resting and exercising at any deep body temperature level, whereas the whole body temperature sensation was 1.0. When the temperature dropped, the exercise condition became less likely to feel cold than the rest condition.The skin temperature and core body temperature during the measurement did not differ between the two conditions, and it is considered that the exercise itself or the physiological changes caused by the exercise blunted the temperature sensation.
Normally, when humans feel cold, they take actions to prevent the decrease in body temperature, such as "wearing a coat" and "turning on heating", but as shown in the results of this study, especially when the temperature in the deep part of the body drops significantly. The dullness of the whole body's temperature sensation may lead to the onset of hypothermia without noticing a decrease in body temperature.It can be said that caution is required when working in low-temperature seas, rivers, and snowy mountains, but further elucidation is expected regarding the effect of exercise on temperature sensation in order to improve safety during exercise in low-temperature environments. ..
Paper information:[Physiology & Behavior] Effects of low-intensity exercise on local skin and whole-body thermal sensation in hypothermic young males
