It's probably not Ebola, so keep it to yourself

Posted

As Januarys go, this one is epic. Even as we mount defenses against the brutal cold, a second assault threatens. A virulent and unexpected flu bug is making thousands of people very sick. And most of us are vulnerable, because the flu shot we got in the fall doesn’t protect against this particular strain.

On the cold front: Single-digit days do not facilitate business as usual. You can’t just walk to the train or take the dog around the block. You can’t let your kids wait at the bus stop too long, and you can’t park too far away from the supermarket entrance. Our bodies are not made for -10 wind chills.

As a report from the BBC states, the human body can accommodate cold temperatures — down to a point. What happens when we get chilled? Our muscles contract and our teeth chatter. We get goose bumps — “a kind of evolutionary echo from the times when our ancestors were covered in fur.” In prehistoric times, severe cold caused animals to raise the fur on their bodies — thus the goose bumps. Problem is, we have the reflex, but not the fur. We also lack the thick layers of fat that animals like polar bears have.

The hypothalamus, the gland in the brain that acts as our body’s thermostat, triggers these various reactions to keep the body’s vital organs warm. The hypothalamus’s mission is to keep the inner core functioning at all costs — sacrificing the extremities if need be. The body keeps its warm blood close to the center, abandoning the fingers and toes for the heart and brain. That’s why we often see frostbite damage to hands, feet, noses and ears among the climbers who summit the frigid Himalayan peaks. The same thing can happen on an LIRR platform if the wait is too long and the limbs are bare.

So, keep warm. That’s an order.

Page 1 / 3