Thermal discomfort with cold extremities in relation to age, gender, and body mass index in a random sample of a Swiss urban population

BackgroundThe aim of this epidemiological study was to investigate the relationship of thermal discomfort with cold extremities (TDCE) to age, gender, and body mass index (BMI) in a Swiss urban population.MethodsIn a random population sample of Basel city, 2,800 subjects aged 20-40 years were asked to complete a questionnaire evaluating the extent of cold extremities. Values of cold extremities were based on questionnaire-derived scores. The correlation of age, gender, and BMI to TDCE was analyzed using multiple regression analysis.ResultsA total of 1,001 women (72.3% response rate) and 809 men (60% response rate) returned a completed questionnaire. Statistical analyses revealed the following findings: Younger subjects suffered more intensely from cold extremities than the elderly, and women suffered more than men (particularly younger women). Slimmer subjects suffered significantly more often from cold extremities than subjects with higher BMIs.ConclusionsThermal discomfort with cold extremities (a relevant symptom of primary vascular dysregulation) occurs at highest intensity in younger, slimmer women and at lowest intensity in elderly, stouter men.

[1]  Anna Wirz-Justice,et al.  Physiology: Warm feet promote the rapid onset of sleep , 1999, Nature.

[2]  S. Horvath,et al.  Influences of age and gender on human thermoregulatory responses to cold exposures. , 1985, Journal of applied physiology.

[3]  H. Saner,et al.  Microvasculatory evaluation of vasospastic syndromes. , 1987, Advances in experimental medicine and biology.

[4]  J. Flammer,et al.  Autoregulation, a balancing act between supply and demand. , 2008, Canadian journal of ophthalmology. Journal canadien d'ophtalmologie.

[5]  Kazuyuki Kanosue,et al.  Thermal regulation and comfort during a mild-cold exposure in young Japanese women complaining of unusual coldness. , 2002, Journal of applied physiology.

[6]  J. A. Allen.  The influence of physical conditions in the genesis of species , 1877 .

[7]  S. Orgül,et al.  Systemic Blood Pressure and Capillary Blood-Cell Velocity in Glaucoma Patients: A Preliminary Study , 1995, European journal of ophthalmology.

[8]  Josef Flammer,et al.  Cold extremities and difficulties initiating sleep: evidence of co‐morbidity from a random sample of a Swiss urban population , 2008, Journal of sleep research.

[9]  J D Hardy,et al.  Differences between Men and Women in Their Response to Heat and Cold. , 1940, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[10]  J. M. Hanna,et al.  Skinfolds and resting heat loss in cold air and water: temperature equivalence. , 1975, Journal of applied physiology.

[11]  J. Morrison,et al.  PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIONS TO COLD OF CAUCASIAN FEMALES. , 1964, Journal of applied physiology.

[12]  A. Nelson,et al.  Thermal and metabolic responses of high and low fat women to cold water immersion. , 1998, Aviation, space, and environmental medicine.

[13]  Benjamin M. Auerbach,et al.  Variation in limb proportions between Jomon foragers and Yayoi agriculturalists from prehistoric Japan. , 2008, American journal of physical anthropology.

[14]  S. Orgül,et al.  Vascular dysregulation in the choroid of subjects with acral vasospasm. , 2002, Archives of ophthalmology.

[15]  W. D. McArdle,et al.  Thermal adjustment to cold-water exposure in resting men and women. , 1984, Journal of applied physiology: respiratory, environmental and exercise physiology.

[16]  J. Flammer,et al.  Vasospastic persons exhibit differential expression of ABC-transport proteins. , 2003, Molecular vision.

[17]  J. Chatel,et al.  A centennial review of neurasthenia. , 1970, The American journal of psychiatry.

[18]  B. A. Wilson,et al.  Gender differences in cardiovascular and metabolic responses to cold and exercise. , 1987, Canadian journal of physiology and pharmacology.

[19]  J A Stolwijk,et al.  Comparative thermoregulatory responses of resting men and women. , 1978, Journal of applied physiology: respiratory, environmental and exercise physiology.

[20]  K. Kräuchi,et al.  Relationship between gender role, anger expression, thermal discomfort and sleep onset latency in women , 2009, BioPsychoSocial medicine.

[21]  O. Meienberg,et al.  Finger Microcirculation in Classical Migraine , 1991 .

[22]  S. Pettit,et al.  Gender differences in cardiovascular and catecholamine responses to cold-air exposure at rest. , 1999, Canadian journal of applied physiology = Revue canadienne de physiologie appliquee.

[23]  M. Hayward,et al.  Roles of subcutaneous fat and thermoregulatory reflexes in determining ability to stabilize body temperature in water. , 1981, The Journal of physiology.

[24]  J. Flammer,et al.  The potential role of testosterone in central serous chorioretinopathy , 2006, British Journal of Ophthalmology.

[25]  H. Uemura,et al.  Differences in sensitivity to cold in Japanese men and postmenopausal women aged > or =50 years. , 2007, Gender medicine.

[26]  J. Flammer,et al.  Glaucoma: A Guide for Patients, an Introduction for Care-Providers, a Quick Reference , 2002 .

[27]  Kurt Kräuchi,et al.  The thermophysiological cascade leading to sleep initiation in relation to phase of entrainment. , 2007, Sleep medicine reviews.

[28]  A. Wirz-Justice,et al.  Cold feet and prolonged sleep-onset latency in vasospastic syndrome , 2001, The Lancet.

[29]  T. Inouye,et al.  Body composition as related to heat regulation in women. , 1956, Journal of applied physiology.

[30]  A. Wirz-Justice,et al.  Chronobiological characterization of women with primary vasospastic syndrome: body heat loss capacity in relation to sleep initiation and phase of entrainment. , 2008, American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology.

[31]  T. Resink,et al.  Vasospasm, its Role in the Pathogenesis of Diseases with Particular Reference to the Eye , 2001, Progress in Retinal and Eye Research.

[32]  E. Stefánsson,et al.  The impact of ocular blood flow in glaucoma , 2002, Progress in Retinal and Eye Research.

[33]  J. Flammer,et al.  Silent myocardial ischemia in glaucoma patients. , 1993, Ophthalmologica. Journal international d'ophtalmologie. International journal of ophthalmology. Zeitschrift fur Augenheilkunde.

[34]  S. Orgül,et al.  Optic nerve blood-flow abnormalities in glaucoma , 1998, Progress in Retinal and Eye Research.

[35]  H. Ulmer,et al.  Reduced thirst in patients with a vasospastic syndrome. , 2004, Acta ophthalmologica Scandinavica.