title: Circadian body temperatures and the effects of a cold stress in elderly and young subjects.
abstract: To determine whether there is a decrement in normal resting body temperature with age, 11 healthy elderly and 11 young adults were studied together for 48 h in warm (21 degrees C) ambient conditions. The resting levels and daytime rhythms of urine and oral temperature were similar, but night-time body temperature fell to a lower value in the young. There were time-of-day effects of increasing skin temperature and metabolic rate in both groups with resting levels higher in the young. After 6 h in cold (6 degrees C) conditions, core (urine) temperature fell by 0.4 degrees C in the elderly subjects but was maintained in the young, and the rise in blood pressure in the elderly exceeded that in the young. Self-reported arousal, however, increased equally in both groups in the cold.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Medicine, University College and Middlesex School of Medicine, London.
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Abdel-Rahman
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goodwin
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: McTiffin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012881:Skin Temperature / Q000502:physiology