Heat output in the cold from hands of Arctic fishermen

¹ Aeromedical Institute, Royal Norwegian Air Force, Oslo, Norway

The heat output from the hands of Arctic fishermen was studied by water calorimetry, using an initial water-bath temperature of 4°C. The fishermen were compared with a group of young men not habituated to work in the cold. The subjects were investigated when comfortably warm and when kept in heat debt by being chilled. The total heat output from the hand during the 30 minutes of calorimetry ranged from 1907 cal/100 ml hand tissue/min. (cold room) to 4886 cal/100 ml hand tissue (warm room). There was found no significant difference of the mean heat output between the two groups, neither when they were in general heat balance, nor when in heat debt. One subject who developed cold urticaria showed a considerably higher heat output than any of the other persons investigated. The results do not agree with the view that men habituated to working in the cold with their hands show an increased blood flow in the cold when studied under environmental temperatures low enough to produce a general vasoconstriction.