Motion sickness increases the risk of accidental hypothermia |
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Authors: | Gerard Nobel Ola Eiken Arne Tribukait Roger Kölegård Igor B. Mekjavic |
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Affiliation: | (1) Royal Netherlands Navy, Den Helder, The Netherlands;(2) Swedish Defence Research Agency, Berzelius v. 13, Karolinska Institutet, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden;(3) Department of Automation, Biocybernetics and Robotics, Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia |
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Abstract: | Motion sickness (MS) has been found to increase body-core cooling during immersion in 28°C water, an effect ascribed to attenuation of the cold-induced peripheral vasoconstriction (Mekjavic et al. in J Physiol 535(2):619–623, 2001). The present study tested the hypothesis that a more profound cold stimulus would override the MS effect on peripheral vasoconstriction and hence on the core cooling rate. Eleven healthy subjects underwent two separate head-out immersions in 15°C water. In the control trial (CN), subjects were immersed after baseline measurements. In the MS-trial, subjects were rendered motion sick prior to immersion, by using a rotating chair in combination with a regimen of standardized head movements. During immersion in the MS-trial, subjects were exposed to an optokinetic stimulus (rotating drum). At 5-min intervals subjects rated their temperature perception, thermal comfort and MS discomfort. During immersion mean skin temperature, rectal temperature, the difference in temperature between the non-immersed right forearm and 3rd finger of the right hand (ΔT ff), oxygen uptake and heart rate were recorded. In the MS-trial, rectal temperature decreased substantially faster (33%, P < 0.01). Also, the ΔT ff response, an index of peripheral vasomotor tone, as well as the oxygen uptake, indicative of the shivering response, were significantly attenuated (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001, respectively) by MS. Thus, MS may predispose individuals to hypothermia by enhancing heat loss and attenuating heat production. This might have significant implications for survival in maritime accidents. |
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Keywords: | Body temperature regulation Vasodilation Vasoconstriction Shivering |
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