The national media has started taking an interest in how we’re all going to keep warm this winter. Let’s bear in mind that it’s not necessarily those of us who are living with fuel poverty, there is also a serious risk of planned power outages due to possible fuel shortages – and that will impact everyone.
The BBC asked the question of what an unheated room does to our bodies. The answer was – quite a lot, and surprisingly quickly.
Most of us reckon that a room temperature of 21C is nice and comfortable. How low does the temperature need to go before that comfort disappears? The intrepid BBC reporter was exposed to a room temperature of 10C. Here’s what happened:
At only 18C, the body takes note of the lower temperature and starts to defend itself. Our extremities – hands and feet – feel the effects of the cold temperatures because our brains start to reduce the supply of blood to them – protecting the body’s vital organs (without which, it’s all over!)
Once the temperature gets down to 11.5C, muscles started shivering, as they try to generate heat within the body.
And at 10C the scientists overseeing the test took some measurements:
- blood flow to the brain, down by 20%;
- Breathing rate went up from 9 breaths /minute to 12 breaths/minute;
- heart rate went up from 55 beats/minute to 65 beats/min;
- Though core body temperature remained at 37C, extremities (hands, feet and head) fell by 2C;
- Cognition: a test puzzle that had been completed in 75 seconds at 21C, took 95 seconds at 10C.
While the body is working harder to pump blood around the system, the heart is put under greater strain, as our blood starts to thicken, making it more difficult to pump. This is when we’re at a higher risk of stroke and heart attack.
Oh, and viruses love the winter. Viruses survive more easily in cold air and spread so much easier in rooms when there’s very little ventilation. And the immune responses in our bodies become less active, making it easier for viruses to grow inside our lungs nd nasal passages.
Living at these temperatures is not the usual way we go about things. Prof Damian Bailey, from the University of South Wales, makes the point: “it’s like preparing for a mountaineering expedition”.
In other words, these are not normal times.
Tips for keeping warm:
- Wear layers of clothing, preferably made of materials that provide good insulation, like wool.
- Don’t be embarrassed to wear a hat – and gloves and good socks. Again, choose good insulating fabrics where you can.
NOTE: its a fallacy that we lose more heat through our heads than the rest of the body, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the feeling of a nice warm titfer. - Stay hydrated. Drink more warm drinks. And if energy costs are the problem, get the old thermos flask out and make a decent-sized brew that you can tap into during the day.
- If you’re able, switch to a higher carbohydrate diet. The extra energy available to the body’s system can be very useful. Cook larger portions so that its cheaper to warm-up a second meal for a later meal.
- Move around! Curling up on the sofa under a blanket sounds good, but you can generate internal heat just by moving around the house. Try a few step exercises on the bottom step of the stairs.
Why do older people feel the cold more?
Here are a few reasons provided by Mobility Help
- Older people generally have a lower metabolic rate, so our bodies take longer to burn the calories that we take in.
- Some medicines, like beta blockers, can lower the heart rate and that can reduce the blood pressure in our bodies, and that impact on circulation to hands and feet.
- Blood circulation slows because of the ageing of our blood vessels.
- Thyroid conditions and high cholesterol can reduce blood flow around the body.
- Some older people lose weight and the reduction of that fat layer under the skin is like wearing one less layer of clothing.
- Just because we haven’t been diagnosed . . . diabetes and hypertension can make us feel cold. If you’re cold all the time, get a check-up.
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There’s more to feeling cold than just shivering
Here are some things to look out for in friends and family in cold times:
- Unusual bouts of shivering when everyone else in the room is OK.
- Skin looking unusually pale
- Becoming exhausted very quickly.
- Slurred speech
- Temporary memory loss or confusion
- Loss of coordination and hands being more clumsy than usual.
- Slow breathing rate.
These are all symptoms that can lead to hyperthermia -and that’s not something that’s unique to older people, or young people cavorting above the snow line.
And one final comment – even during these gender-equal days, its still the case that women feel the cold more than men. Speaking very generally, women carry more body fat and that can block the flow of blood to the skin and extremities; and wonen have less muscle and that affects the metabolism, where our food intake gets turned into energy.
And here’s a vital final, final point: babies have a poorly developed metabolic mechanism for responding to thermal stress. And babies cannot shiver, so they don’t have the same warning system that adults have when temperatures start to drop.
