Response of Negro and white males to cold

¹ Physiology Branch, Environmental Protection Research Division, Quartermaster Research and Engineering Command, U.S. Army, Quartermaster Research and Engineering Center, Natick, Massachusetts

Heat production and body temperatures were measured in matched groups of U.S. Negro and white soldiers during whole body cooling and finger temperatures were measured when only the digits were cooled. Whole body cooling was accomplished by having the subjects, clad only in shorts, sit for 2 hours in a chamber at 50°F with a 5-mph wind. Digital cooling was accomplished by having the subjects immerse the fingers in a water bath at 32°F for 45 minutes. During whole body cooling there were no group differences with respect to the following: heat production, skin and rectal temperatures. During digital cooling white subjects had higher finger temperatures and the ‘hunting’ reaction was more pronounced than for Negroes. In addition, the white subjects required a shorter period for the onset of the first ‘rewarming’ of the fingers. The implications of these findings with reference to the reported higher incidence of cold injury among Negro soldiers are discussed.

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