cold shivering keeps me warm

[starrygaze]

Brrrr! The Science of Shivering Revealed

By LiveScience Staff


Scientists have figured out why your skin tenses up and your teeth chatter when an icy blast of wintry wind whips past: The brain’s wiring system monitors the temperature of the skin and decides when the shivering should commence.

Shivering is one of the many automatic and subconscious functions that the body performs to regulate itself. Other so-called homeostatic functions include the adjustment of breathing rates, blood pressure, heart rate and weight regulation.

Shivering is essentially the body's last-ditch effort to keep itself warm.

"Shivering, which is actually heat production in skeletal muscles, requires quite a bit of energy and is usually the last strategy the body uses to maintain its internal temperature to survive in a severe cold environment," said Oregon Health & Science University research fellow Kazuhiro Nakamura.

Nakamura and his colleagues studied rats and traced the shivering sensory pathway from the rodents' skin to specialized cells in a portion of the brain called the lateral parabrachial nucleus. These cells can then transmit information to another part of the brain, the preoptic area, which decides when the body should start shivering.

The rat research is thought to directly apply to humans because previous research has shown many parallels in how the two species sense and regulate heat.

The study, detailed in an online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience, also found a connection between conscious and subconscious cold-sensing mechanisms.

"One fascinating aspect of this study is that it shows the sensory pathway for shivering, which can be thought of as brain wiring, is parallel but not the same as the sensory pathway for conscious cold detection," Nakamura said. "In other words, your body is both consciously and subconsciously detecting the cold at the same time using two different but related sensory systems."

The sensory system the researchers found in the brain also seems to operate other cold-control mechanisms, such as the restriction of blood flow to the skin, Nakamura said.

 

[Chase]

I love the Cheyenne-Laramie area. The skies are so clear for gazing.

Like Starrygaze implies, the shiver reflex not only warns of impending hypothermia, but it’s a great tool in itself to help warm up until we can get rid of wet cotton clothing next to our skin (savvy northerners know cotton is “the death cloth”) and put on dry, warmer clothing. We can also seek shelter with ambient heat and sip warm liquids, such as soup, to heat ourselves slowly.

Dogs have a shiver reflex to eject water off their skin and stimulate muscle activity to generate internal heat. We can learn a lesson from our canine friends. When cold, shiver with all your might and get dry.

But when the body core drops too low, we lose the ability to shiver and we’re in bad shape.

Be careful of warming hands and feet of an extreme hypothermic victim before the body core temperature rises to safer levels . . . or we run the risk of sending cold, poorly circulating blood to the already dangerously cold body core. The results often quickly kill the victim.

Get a victim out of clothing wet by environment or sweat and warm his or her body slowly, away from radiant heat. Sips of warm broth are okay, but only if the victim is awake.

Once shivering starts again, it’s probably okay to warm hands and feet by a fire, but anyone whose experienced extreme hypothermia needs rushed to a medical facility because relapses may happen.

Anyway, I like to stay nice and wooly warm while outside star-gazing.

 

[starrygaze]

Agreed with your point when I drove far away from town of Cheyenne least 20 miles to the mountain about 8,000 ft. Mountain place to see the sky is awesome rather than I saw on Ozark country!

I love the Cheyenne-Laramie area. The skies are so clear for gazing.

Like Starrygaze implies, the shiver reflex not only warns of impending hypothermia, but it’s a great tool in itself to help warm up until we can get rid of wet cotton clothing next to our skin (savvy northerners know cotton is “the death cloth”) and put on dry, warmer clothing. We can also seek shelter with ambient heat and sip warm liquids, such as soup, to heat ourselves slowly.

Dogs have a shiver reflex to eject water off their skin and stimulate muscle activity to generate internal heat. We can learn a lesson from our canine friends. When cold, shiver with all your might and get dry.

But when the body core drops too low, we lose the ability to shiver and we’re in bad shape.

Be careful of warming hands and feet of an extreme hypothermic victim before the body core temperature rises to safer levels . . . or we run the risk of sending cold, poorly circulating blood to the already dangerously cold body core. The results often quickly kill the victim.

Get a victim out of clothing wet by environment or sweat and warm his or her body slowly, away from radiant heat. Sips of warm broth are okay, but only if the victim is awake.

Once shivering starts again, it’s probably okay to warm hands and feet by a fire, but anyone whose experienced extreme hypothermia needs rushed to a medical facility because relapses may happen.

Anyway, I like to stay nice and wooly warm while outside star-gazing.

 

[restless_heart]

I never stay warm. I would wear 2 layers to four layers...When we had an ice storm few days ago, I wore tank top, thick sweater, hooded jacket and thick coat while breaking the ice, even I wore gloves, but my fingertips frooze just like that no matter what and I couldn't feel a thing for two days. My boss had the same thing. You could tell the different, wearing three to four layers you are warm but with one layer, forget it...I only wore jeans, my legs frooze...it is strange how you got inside, your hands and legs were on fire. I had to wait till my body adjust to the warm temperature before taking a warm bath.

I know the only way to escape from the blustry cold weather is move to South.

 

[Chase]

" . . . three to four layers you are warm but with one layer, forget it . . . I only wore jeans, my legs frooze."

No wonder you're cold. Jeans are cotton. Cotton is the worse possible fabric to wear in the cold. If any cotton garmet next to your skin gets the least bit damp, even from mild sweat, it will make you even colder and hasten the onset of hypothermia.

I'm not kidding when I warn that people who know the cold call cotton "the cloth of death."

If outdoors in temperatures below 45 degrees for any length of time, at minimum you need underwear of a light wool or polypropylene blend to wick away moisture and then wool or some material like Goretex.

 

[starrygaze]

wow and glad you add more info what good to wear type of cloth to keep us warm. Goretex I looked up in google and then what I learned:

Gore-Tex materials are typically based on thermo-mechanically expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and other fluoropolymer products. They are used in a wide variety of applications such as high performance fabrics, medical implants, filter media, insulation for wires and cables, gaskets, and sealants.

Gore-Tex based fabric material is composed of a thin, porous fluoropolymer membrane with a urethane coating that is bonded to a fabric, usually nylon or polyester. The membrane has about 9 billion pores per square inch (around 1.4 billion pores per square centimeter), each of which is approximately 20,000 times smaller than a water droplet, making it impenetrable to liquid water while still allowing the smaller sized water vapour to pass through. The result is a material that is breathable, waterproof, and also windproof. The outer fabric is treated with water repellent and seams are sealed to prevent water leakage through pinholes caused during the sewing of the fabric. The urethane coating provides a protective layer and also prevents contamination (i.e., body oils) from wetting the laminate and allowing wicking of moisture through the membrane.

The best known application for Gore-Tex fabrics is in outdoor activity clothing. In this context, it helps keep the wearer protected from the wind and rain, while nonetheless allowing sweat to evaporate and escape. This is in contrast to traditional plastic raincoats, for example, which lack breathability and therefore promote a build up of humidity in the air inside the coat, preventing sweat from evaporating effectively.

Gore-tex is also used in surgery as an implant material, patch, or membrane, such as is used in plastic surgery and heart surgery.

Gore requires that all garments made from their material have taping over the seams, to eliminate leaks. Gore's sister product, Windstopper, is similar to Gore-Tex in being windproof and breathable, but (1) has ability to stretch and (2) is not waterproof.

Gore-Tex is playing an increasing role in the conservation of illuminated manuscripts.

 

[Canuckian_Chick]

anything with thermal material is good like in boots also downs are good too... I love the WINTER cold months it keeps you awake lol... even sleeping with a window cracked open abit... it's awesome!!!

 

[starrygaze]

anything with thermal material is good like in boots also downs are good too... I love the WINTER cold months it keeps you awake lol... even sleeping with a window cracked open abit... it's awesome!!!

Sound like my girlfriend does that! She loves to bring cold fresh air in when she is asleep! On bed, I keep tuck inside thick blanket to keep me warm.

 

[Canuckian_Chick]

another material to look for is...

Filled with warm Thinsulate™ Insulation olefin/polyester and a Polartec® polyester fleece lining for warmth on cooler days.

 

[Canuckian_Chick]

Sound like my girlfriend does that! She loves to bring cold fresh air in when she is asleep! On bed, I keep tuck inside thick blanket to keep me warm.

hehehe, you do sleep better when it's cold as when it's hot I can't sleep!!! I use a down duvet as a cover... awesome feeling but hate getting out of a warm bed in the mornings .... smile!! enjoy!!