BBC science journalist James Gallagher was placed in a micro camera where the temperature was lowered by up to 10 degrees, the average temperature in which people who cannot heat their homes will live in winter: this is what happens to the human body
Until this year in Italy the maximum (average) temperature to be kept in winter houses was established by law: 20 degreeswith a maximum allowable swing of two degrees.
With the energy crisis triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine the Draghi government lowered it to 19 degreeswhich is then the temperature usually recommended to keep physical well-being and respect for the environment together.
Without heating, temperatures would drop much moreto the point of becoming harmful to human beings and justifying the increase in mortality calculated by theEconomist (of which Luca Angelini writes in this newsletter). BBC science journalist James Gallagherwho participated in an experiment at the University of South Wales to study the effects of cold on the body, says what happens to the body when it gets too cold.
The researchers put it in a micro camera and they lowered the temperature up to ten degreesmonitoring its principals vital parameters.
Ten degrees is the average temperature in which people who cannot afford to heat their homes will live in winter says Professor Damian Bailey (between December and January the average temperature in London fluctuates between 9 degrees maximum and 4 minimum, Milan in the same period is slightly colder: between 7 maximum and 2 minimum on average, in Rome a little warmer, between 12 and 4 degrees).
Sounds mild, but quite a physiological challenge, she adds. The temperature at which the human body works is in fact much higher, 37 degreesand maintain it when there is such a thermal difference that is burdensome for the organism.
Gallagher started the experiment at a temperature of 21 degrees. When the environment was cooled down to 18 degrees his body hair literally stood on end. Science tells us that 18 degrees is the tipping point where the body starts working to defend the core temperature explains Professor Bailey.
One of the first tricks that the body has there vasoconstriction: Blood vessels close to keep blood warm for organs essential for survival. the reason why the extremities of the limbs become white and cold. The temperature of Gallagher’s hands and feet decreased by an average of two degrees.
At the same time blood pressure rises And the blood becomes thicker, increasing the risk of stroke and heart attack, which in fact are more frequent in winter. They also increase breathing rate and heart rate while the body burns more calories. it is the extra work that the body has to do to maintain its basal temperature. And he pays the consequences.
During the experiment Gallagher was subjected to a cognitive test and he had more difficulty solving it than a similar test performed at 21 degrees ambient temperature. Blood reaches the brain lessso there is less oxygen and less glucose and this has a negative impact says Bailey again. Tests clearly suggest that cold is deadlier than heatthere are more deaths from cold waves than from heat waves, he adds.
They are not the only risk factors: the cold facilitates the survival and spread of viruses and weakens our immune response (and the reason why we get more sick in winter). The BBC reporter remained a ten degrees for only half an hour, but he had no warm clothes to cover him.
Obviously, by dressing or staying under the covers, you can partially protect yourself from the cold. But a temperature lower than 18 degrees is still heavy on the body. And it explains the relative increase in mortality.
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November 25, 2022 (change November 25, 2022 | 22:33)
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