Arctic Aeromedical Laboratory. Aerospace Medical Division, Air Force Systems Command. Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Technical documentary report TDR-61-52. 26 p.
Institute of Work Physiology, Blindern, Oslo, Norway
Source
Arctic Aeromedical Laboratory. Aerospace Medical Division, Air Force Systems Command. Fort Wainwright, Alaska. Technical documentary report TDR-61-52. 26 p.
The metabolic and thermal responses to muscular exertion in a cold environment were studied in outdoor and indoor workers. The metabolic rate in all subjects during exercise was higher in the cold environment than in the warm environment at low levels of work; at higher workloads it was the same. In the cold environment there was a tendency towards lower oxygen uptake of the outdoor workers than of the indoor workers at low levels of work; at high levels it was essentially the same. Differences in skin temperature and onset of rewarming indicate an adaptability to cold of the vasomotor control mechanism of the peripheral circulation. It is suggested that habituation to cold leads to a lower set point of the thermosensitive cells of the thermoregulatory center, so that vasodilation impulses are discharged at a lower temperature.