excerpt: "In summary, aging is associated with reduced intensity of the vasoconstriction and shivering responses during cold challenge. The ability to perceive cold is also somewhat impaired. The decreased vasoconstriction response is explained by a delayed and reduced (norepinephrine) NE response as well as a decreased vasomotor responsiveness for a given amount of endogenous NE. Shivering and the associated heat production are decreased in older individuals, with decreased threshold, gain, and maximum response that cannot be attributed solely to differences in lean body mass. These findings contribute to our understanding of why older people are susceptible to core hypothermia during cold challenge."
ref.: Frank, S.M., Raja, S.N., Bulcao, C., Goldstein, D.S., Age-related thermoregulatory differences during core cooling in humans, Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, 279: R349–R354, 2000.
RBc: This is an area of interest for us and we've posted several related papers in the past. We've also touched upon the ergonomics of the indoor environment for senior housing in the last issue of HPAC Canada (see previous post). In a related topic you can hear our interview on IEQ with Matt Nelson from www.buildingx.co. He's made available numerous interviews with industry leaders and I would recommend you spend some time listening to his guests.
