Perspectives on Environmental Adaptability and Physiological Polymorphism in Thermoregulation

Abstract

The environmental adaptability of human beings has progressed according to various environments experienced in the course of evolution. Therefore, various phenotypes for environmental adaptability exist and are considered to be physiological polymorphism. Physiological polymorphism in thermoregulation is influenced by genotype, individual characteristics, environmental factors, cultural factors, etc. Moreover, it is thought that physiological polymorphism is evidenced more clearly in physiological responses to extreme situations and/or changing conditions than in environments where homeostasis is easily maintained. In the field of physiological anthropology, I think that it is important not only to discover the physiological responses that demonstrate polymorphism, but also to hypothesize about the mechanisms and the processes by which such polymorphisms were formed, and their meaning for human beings. Such discussions may be supposed to lead to an evaluation of the environmental adaptability of humans from the viewpoint of physiological anthropology.

Hypothermia

“…The increase in heat production through raised metabolic activity is higher in small infants than in adults due to the presence of brown fat [11]. Obese people have been found to have far less cold-induced thermogenesis than thin individuals, and interindividual differences exist in persons of normal weight depending on basal metabolic rates, which are influenced by physical fitness, environmental temperatures exposure and nutritional factors [12][13][14][15][16].…”

“…The increase of body cooling rates in wind was recognized in the early twentieth century [60]; Siple and Passel performed experiments in the Antarctic and developed the wind-chill-index to objectify the combined effects of temperature and wind speed on object cooling, but exact measures of wind effects on the body cooling rate do not exist to date [61,62]. Exact figures for ''dangerous'' conditions cannot be given, as the duration of exposure to the cold and individual factors play a crucial role in the development of hypothermia [13,63].…”

Ethnic differences in thermoregulation: Genotypic versus phenotypic heat adaptation

“…increased sweat response (Maeda, 2005)). An enhancement of cold-induced thermogenesis following repeated cold exposure has been well established across many, but not all, animal species (Feist and White, 1989).…”

Specific Physiological Responses in Women with Severe Primary Dysmenorrhea during the Menstrual Cycle

“…And those results may lead to a reduction of economic loss from absenteeism due to incapacitating dysmenorrhea, as well as yielding meaningful information on physiological anthropology one of the goals of which is improvement in the quality of human life by investigation of the physiological capabilities of the human body. Also, the information is useful in terms of physiological polymorphisms and whole body coordination which are important concepts of physiological anthropology (Maeda, 2005;Kouda, 2005;Yasukouchi, 2005;Sato, 2005). Dysmenorrheic women are one of various physiological types among humans.…”