The great British fascination with the weather is extending into the realms of health or rather, ill health.

However, there is a paradox here: 
If very cold weather is linked to an increase in illness ie strokes, and even an increase deaths, why don't we ALL drop like flies in the winter?

The researchers need to look elsewhere for the answer. 

Perhaps someone might to look at internal environments rather that focusing exclusively on external environments?

I have a hypothesis. 

What if those who succumb to the colder climate in winter have compromised immune systems? What if their immune systems are incorrectly underpinned by a low operating temperature set point? 
What if it is internal, central hypothermia that is  the main problem,exacerbated by extreme cold? 

Might this explain the difference between a 'healthy', firing on all cylinders with an optimal immune system individual, coping easily with the cold weather, and a low body temperature, compromised immune system individual, trying to limp as best it can through the cold weather?

If more research is not going to be carried out on central hypothermia, then individuals can do something for themselves. 

If it is known that central hypothermia is an issue, and resetting is not an option. Simply, to get to 37C at some part of every day for around an hour and avoid 'cold exposure' during those very cold days, it might help.

For me 37C or 98.6F is the magic number, and when accompanied by this as a set point, I feel more able to withstand the cold for a short period of time. As if I am 'immune' to the cold! (See what I did there :-) ?! )

I suppose at least some research is taking place, I do look forward to the day when some connection with health, central hypothermia and the immune system jumps into mainstream medicine.

.....and, more importantly to me is that one of my friends is actively taking an interest.

Janey Hood

"New research suggests weight loss isn’t just about living a healthy lifestyle—the temperature of the space you live in may have an impact too.

In a new article published in Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, researchers examined evidence on whether temperature can impact an individual’s ability to regulate body temperature, generate heat and burn fat.

Previous research has indicated that prolonged exposure to mildly cold temperatures can effect a person’s energy expenditure over a period of time. One research group from Japan discovered that after people spent two hours per day in a 62.6 degrees F climate, they experienced a decrease in body fat after six weeks.

Furthermore, the researchers also discovered people adapt to colder temperatures over time. Study author Wouter van Marken Lichtenbelt, of Maastricht University Medical Center in The Netherlands, studied a group of 17 subjects living in climate-controlled respiration chambers heated to 59 F for 6 hours a day. After 10 days, participants saw an increase in ‘healthy’ brown fat, felt more comfortable and shivered less compared to at the beginning of the study.

Brown fat is considered to be a healthy fat because it uses energy from food or energy stored in white fat to produce heat.

“Brown fat can be ‘turned on’ when you get cold,” van Marken Lichtenbelt told FoxNews.com. “Instead of shivering, you can turn on brown fat to warm up.”

Heat production affects energy balance, and thereby can affect our body weight, van Marken Lichtenbelt said. The researchers said that mildly cold temperatures – around 62 degrees – encourage the body to use nonshivering thermogenesis (NST), a process in which the body burns brown fat to heat the body.

Because indoor temperatures in most buildings are regulated, people are typically exposed to relatively high indoor temperatures during winter months. The researchers concluded that a lack of exposure to ambient temperature leaves populations prone to developing obesity.

They suggest that that keeping living spaces at temperatures closer to outdoor conditions may be healthier for people and also feel more pleasant. Van Marken Lichtenbelt maintained that temperatures should be in line with the outside temperatures – but not exactly the same, so people avoid both sweating or shivering.

“My message is that variable indoor temperatures and having more control can create a more healthy environment,” van Marken Lichtenbelt said. “Physiological studies now show that the cold can be healthy.”  " 
Article courtesy of Fox news 2014(click to view).

I haven't read the detailed research, which I should, because what is missing in my blog are a few figures.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0808718

Now, unless I dig deeper, I have not yet found any reference to the body temperatures of the individuals in the research. Just that the subjects were healthy men. 

What concerns me is that many people might now go and turn their heating down, of particular concern are those people with central hypothermia. 

I aim for a normal body temperature 37C all day every day, ideally in a 32C ambient temperature (without too many clothes), or if  lower ambient temperature, with lots of clothes - just enough to feel uncomfortably warm and sustain cycling my 37C body temperature). I also want a low metabolism, which I 'push' on occasion if I choose to and with understanding. I can do this because I no longer have central hypothermia.

If, however I had been at my old low temperature of 35.8C  and I deliberately made myself colder, I would have been in BIG trouble. 
Actually I CAN remember this happening in one air conditioned environment I worked in a long time ago. My cognitive function was massively impaired - I couldn't think straight, my adrenals were shot trying to keep me warm,  I was exhausted and I had many subset illnesses developing. 
Air conditioning is a big no no for me. Interestingly I went for a breast health check yesterday (which was OK by the way) and the waiting room was air conditioned, it was  cold outside and seemed to me even colder INSIDE. It took me quite a while to warm up when I got home.

My own thinking is, if I were obese, before I altered any ambient temperature or anything else for that matter, I would establish what my own operating temperature was, if it was low, I would look at what if anything could be done about that first. Then I would look at ketosis.
If all was reset and operating optimally, I would then find a 59F or 15C room way too cold to function in.
Shivvvvvver me timbers would I ever want to expose myself to being that cold very long let alone for six hours per day? Not unless I was deliberately pushing my metabolism.

The media ought to have added in their reporting: 'Don't try this at home'. 


Author
Janey Hood