Tissue heat transfer in water: lessons from the Korean divers
Abstract
The factors which influence tissue heat transfer and temperature gradients from body core to skin surface are reviewed in the context of studies on Korean diving women. The resistance to heat transfer imposed by resting muscle is shown to be 2-3 times as great as that imposed by overlying fat and skin. However, exercising muscle imposes very little resistance to heat flux because of the increase in convective heat transfer. Accordingly, the limiting resistance to heat flow is shifted to subcutaneous fat and skin during exercise in cold water. Hypothetical examples are given of how important the subcutaneous fat can be in maintaining a high core-to-water temperature gradient in cold water and the same validated by examples from the literature. Last, hypothetical examples are given of the role cutaneous blood flow must play in controlling heat flux and temperature gradients across the subcutaneous fat layer.
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Muscle mass can explain up to 90% of body tissue insulation in resting conditions.
“For resting conditions, muscle mass can explain up to 90% of body tissue insulation, whereas in more active conditions (when muscle gets even more perfused), the subcutaneous fat layer is the only layer of insulation that we have left [68].”
From Drivers of diversity in human thermal perception – A review for holistic comfort models (2018) · cites this paper as [68]
The amount of fat-free mass inversely relates to body tissue insulation in resting conditions.
“The amount of fat-free mass, which for a major part consist of muscle tissue, inversely relates to body tissue insulation in resting conditions.”
From Drivers of diversity in human thermal perception – A review for holistic comfort models (2018) · cites this paper as [68]
A thick subcutaneous fat layer increases insulation and attenuates heat exchange via the skin, which helps maintaining body core temperature in a cold environment.
“a thick subcutaneous fat layer increases insulation and attenuates heat exchange via the skin, which helps maintaining body core temperature in a cold environment [15,68].”
From Drivers of diversity in human thermal perception – A review for holistic comfort models (2018) · cites this paper as [68]
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- Authors
- RENNIE, D. W.
- Affiliations
- University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US)
- Corresponding author
- RENNIE, DONALD W.
- Venue
- Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
- Published
- 1988-10
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- Sup 1
- Pages
- S177-S184
- ISSN
- 0195-9131 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2002553203
- Cited by
- 38
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 0.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5p01hl028542-10)
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (P0-1 HL-28542)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Thermoregulation and physiological responses
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine › Thermal Regulation in Medicine
- Keywords
- cold water diving, women divers, subcutaneous adipose tissue, convective heat transfer, skin blood flow, skin temperature
- MeSH terms
- Body Composition, Body Temperature Regulation, Diving, Physical Exertion, Female, Humans, Immersion, Korea, Models, Biological, Shivering
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