Local adaptation to cold of Gaspé fishermen

¹ Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec City, Canada

This study indicates that Gaspé fishermen have a general peripheral adaptation to cold, since immersion of the hands and feet into ice water gave lower pressor responses than those observed in a control group. This local adaptation is maintained throughout the year. Immersion of the hands in hot water (47 C) reveals no significant differences between the fishermen and control subjects. The thermoreceptors, hypothalamus, cortex, and effector organs are suggested as sites of adaptation in this study.