Abstract
Bodily Reactions to Heat and Cold THE temperature of the deep tissues of the human body is said to be 98·4° F. in normal conditions, any large deviation from this value being uncomfortable, and in extreme cases fatal. It is generally stated that a rise of body temperature to 107° F. is likely to be fatal, but there is no equally definite range of fall of temperature which can be regarded as fatal. Heat is continually being generated within the body, even during sleep, as the result of the chemical processes associated with breathing, digestion and physical effort, all these processes being grouped under the term metabolism. This heat is conducted to the skin, partly by the normal conducting power of the body tissues, partly by the blood-stream, and is dissipated from the skin to the environment. Heat cannot be conducted to the skin unless the temperature of the skin is lower than that of the deeper tissues of the body. Observations show that the skin temperature varies over different parts of the body, being lowest of all over the feet, and next lowest over the hands. From this we may appreciate that special care is needed in the design of boots and gloves for men exposed to conditions of extreme cold.
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BRUNT, D. Climate and Human Comfort*. Nature 155, 559–564 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/155559a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/155559a0