The elements of the science of nutrition / by Graham Lusk.

  • Graham Lusk
Date:
1917
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The elements of the science of nutrition / by Graham Lusk. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    157/850 (page 157)
    INFLUENCE OF COLD BATHS ON METABOLISM IN MAN • Douche i6°. In- Bath i6°. In- crease in Per Cent. crease in Per Cent. Volume of respiration 54 -5 22.9 Carbon dioxid excreted 149 - 5 64.8 Oxygen absorbed no. 1 46.8 A cold bath, especially a douche, will therefore stimulate to a greatly increased metabolism. The mechanical stimulus of the falling cold water apparently acts reflexly to increase the metabolism greatly, as it certainly does the magnitude of the respiration. The respiratory quotient indicates that the increased metabolism is at the expense of the glycogen supply, although the phenomenon of the respiratory Auspumpung (see p. 96) of C02 from the blood, must here be reckoned with. There is an after-effect which lasts about one and a half hours, indicating an increased metabolism during that time. This may be the expression of the body’s attempt to maintain a normal temperature after being somewhat cooled (see also p. 418). It is obvious that a cold bath will be likely to induce shivering unless by mechanical effort, such as swimming, the metabolism is increased so as to supply calorific energy in another way than through chemical regulation (see p. 421). A bath of 350 has no effect on metabolism. Rubner finds that a bath at 440 again increases the metabolism, the increase being, for the volume of respiration, 18.8 per cent., for carbon dioxid 32.1 per cent., and for oxygen 17.3 per cent. This is probably due to the overwarming of the cells. Baths at this tem- perature find favor among the Japanese. Lusk1 found that immersion before breakfast of men in baths at a temperature of 8° which contained cracked ice increased the heat production during a subsequent period of violent shivering to 180 per cent, above the normal. The metabolism was the equivalent of 45°° calories per day for a man weighing 64.7 kilograms. From the respiratory quotient of 0.85 which was found, it may be computed that approximately half of this energy was derived from carbohy- drates and half from fat. It is known that cold tends to remove glycogen from the animal body (see p. 641), and it has been shown 1 Lusk, G.: Am. J. Physiol., 1910-11, 27, 427.