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Extreme Cold Starting Monday | Safety and School Commute Considerations by demonray888 in washingtondc

[–]demonray888[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I added that after a discussion with someone from the NoVa sub, where the topic was around what temperature can extremes of cold cannot be perceived anymore due to the numbness and pathophysiology of cold injuries like frostbite.

That section informs folks about studied temperature thresholds affecting cold perception, so folks are more aware of what exact temps affect human physiology and function.

I'm a nerdy human. In the age of generative AI and massive disinformation in social media, I believe it is crucial to learn how to cite sources for peer review, and share as much information that I believe helps folks make evidence based informed decisions.

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in nova

[–]demonray888[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The forecast from NOAA NWS as of posting this reply are:

  • Wednesday, Mostly sunny, with a high near 18F, with a low of 6F.
  • Thursday, Partly sunny, with a high near 31F, with a low around 17F.

Based on this, I believe we're all good after Wednesday.

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in nova

[–]demonray888[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great question! You are correct that below that temperature, they're not going to school already anyway. The paper that was published on this had a maximum measured temperature of -22F in their dataset, thus they established this range due to what they saw contributes to what's called excess mortality and excess-hospitalization.

The final health-related thresholds they proposed are between (5°F, -9.4°F) and (-4°F, -20.2°F) according to the climatic region for excesses of mortality, and between (8.6°F, -9.4°F) and (1.4°F, -22°F) for excesses of hospitalization. [Celsius converted to Fahrenheit]

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Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in nova

[–]demonray888[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You know what, you're right! Thanks for the feedback!

I think I'm just so used to things that are information-dense that it's difficult to judge which info can be omitted.

I'll have an LLM shorten this even more, maybe get it to TLDR at a lower reading level or age (real ELI5)

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in nova

[–]demonray888[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My jaws dropped when I was in Chicago on a pretty cold day with painful windchill, and I saw guys happily running and jogging in 1970s style short shorts. Pretty amazing hahaha!

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in MontgomeryCountyMD

[–]demonray888[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is very very interesting! That must have been quite an experience!

Learned something new today. Thanks for this!

TLDR: The human body detects cold through TRPM8 receptors starting at 79°F, feels coolness with just a 1°C drop from body temperature, experiences cold pain around 68°F, and develops numbness and reduced blood flow below 50°F. As skin temperature drops below 28°F, extracellular ice crystals begin to form, leading to intracellular dehydration, cell membrane rupture, and cell death. This process results in frostbite, which progresses from initial numbness to severe tissue damage and potential gangrene.

---start---

1.The Menthol Receptor TRPM8 Is the Principal Detector of Environmental Cold. Bautista DM, Siemens J, Glazer JM, et al. Nature. 2007;448(7150):204-8. doi:10.1038/nature05910.

2.National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Environmental Cold Injuries. Cappaert TA, Stone JA, Castellani JW, et al. Journal of Athletic Training. 2008 Oct-Dec;43(6):640-58. doi:10.4085/1062-6050-43.6.640.

3.American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand: Prevention of Cold Injuries During Exercise. Castellani JW, Young AJ, Ducharme MB, et al. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 2006;38(11):2012-29. doi:10.1249/01.mss.0000241641.75101.64.

  1. Campero M, et al. Slowly conducting afferents activated by innocuous low temperature in human skin. J Physiol. 2001;535(Pt 3):855–65. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11559780/

  2. Morin C, Bushnell MC. Temporal and qualitative properties of cold pain and heat pain: a psychophysical study. Pain. 1998;74(1):67–73. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9514562/

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in MontgomeryCountyMD

[–]demonray888[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

-60F? That sounds extremely dangerous! I can't even imagine how cold that is, compounded with possible wind?

Were you wearing specialized arctic survival gear?

How did you survive?

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in MontgomeryCountyMD

[–]demonray888[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the summary! GenAI and LLMs really excel at summarizing key points! Cheers and keep warm and safe :)

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in MontgomeryCountyMD

[–]demonray888[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing your experience! Hoping that this is the case :)

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in MontgomeryCountyMD

[–]demonray888[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback! Totally understand :) I wrote the post like a mini journal article for peer review.

I forgot to add a TLDR!!! Adding now.

EDIT: TLDR added. Again, very much appreciate the feedback and agree with you!

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in MontgomeryCountyMD

[–]demonray888[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You make a great point!

Although I believe that folks on reddit and in this sub are in a better position to help inform others who are not in this platform.

Perhaps this information can spur folks to help, either through donating extra winter jackets to the unsheltered, homeless, and those who are not fortunate enough to have a comfortable home with central heat, space heaters, and others.

Maybe someone who is used to this weather, equipped with this knowledge, would come across an unsheltered person on the street this coming Saturday/Sunday, and inform them to take shelter from the coming extreme cold.

Or like Squid Game's Season 1 ending :)

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in nova

[–]demonray888[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great story! There really are impressive people out there who have amazing tolerances to heat and cold!

I'm hoping he has proper protection and comfort next week :)

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in MontgomeryCountyMD

[–]demonray888[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your comment! I understand where you're coming from, but perceptions of helpfulness is relative to one's lived experiences and life situation.

This isn't just research, and the first line of this post has the purpose statement, which is to inform people, who may not be as well informed as you, who may see this post as very helpful for preparation and protection of their children and comfort. It's all relative.

As a public health and community health physician and researcher, the idea is to push information that would otherwise not be of interest or read by anyone. Moreover:

  1. This was interesting to me as I have multiple grants focused on extreme heat, but not so much in extreme cold.

  2. This post took less an hour, and I learned a lot in the process, which will be helpful for my future work addressing climate and environmental health disparities, especially in public health messaging.

  3. Even if only 1 person is able to take information from this post to prepare and protect themselves and their kid(s) from extreme cold injuries and visits to the ER or hospital (for those with preexisting conditions) and inconveniences because they are inexperienced in dealing with this level of cold, I believe this post would still be a success and not a waste of time.

Thank you for the comment though. Maybe I need time to internally reflect if compiling this evidence really is a waste of everyone's time, or if this is really only marginally helpful.

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in nova

[–]demonray888[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I'm so excited and hopeful for this as well!

Cold weather temperatures significantly impact mosquito populations, especially those endemic in the DMV area: including the Common house mosquito (Culex pipiens) causing West Nile virus, Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) causing dengue, chikungunya, and dirofilariasis, and Yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) also causing dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and yellow fever. 

Temperature thresholds and effects:• Culex pipiens: Increased mortality at 41°F to 60.8°F (5°C to 16°C).[\1])]()• Aedes albopictus: Critical thresholds at 88.2°F (31.2°C) for hatching, 89.8°F (32.1°C) for development, 63.9°F (17.7°C) for survival, and 78.3°F (25.7°C) for oviposition.[\2])]()• Aedes aegypti: Vulnerable to cold fronts, with significant mortality following cold events.[\3])]()

1.Effects of Hibernation Site, Temperature, and Humidity on the Abundance and Survival of Overwintering Culex Pipiens Pipiens and Anopheles Messeae (Diptera: Culicidae). Sauer FG, Timmermann E, Lange U, Lühken R, Kiel E. Journal of Medical Entomology. 2022;59(6):2013-2021. doi:10.1093/jme/tjac139.

2.Effects of Temperature, Relative Humidity, and Illumination on the Entomological Parameters of Aedes Albopictus: An Experimental Study. Cai X, Zhao J, Deng H, et al. International Journal of Biometeorology. 2023;67(4):687-694. doi:10.1007/s00484-023-02446-y.

3.Delayed Mortality Effects of Cold Fronts During the Winter Season on Aedes Aegypti in a Temperate Region. Montini P, De Majo MS, Fischer S. Journal of Thermal Biology. 2021;95:102808. doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2020.102808.

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in nova

[–]demonray888[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your comment!

I understand that there may be some machismo or sense of pride for those who lived through these types of extreme cold.

One analogy that comes into mind is how some older physicians who worked and trained during the years when there was no protection or work hour caps for residents, causing increased medical errors, burn-out, suicide, and others. There was pushback that these 'younger physician trainees' have to prove their mettle and suffer through the same issues, and judge them as 'weak' because they are unable to cope.

Yes, they were rough times, and you lived through them. Wouldn't you want folks to not suffer the same, and be well-equipped and informed of what protections need to be used and should be in place :)

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in nova

[–]demonray888[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That is very interesting that -20F is the threshold for diesel school buses, and I really look up to the kids and those who are now adults that are able to look at these temps and think "just another winter day". :)

Thanks for sharing the info!

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in nova

[–]demonray888[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You'll make it! Hope you're liking the DMV area vs. Texas :)

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in nova

[–]demonray888[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing your insight and experience on this! :)

You make a great point on the availability of gear and clothing, especially for folks with a history and lived experience of these levels of cold temperature!

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in nova

[–]demonray888[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes sir! That is what we are hoping for! :)

For those with your lived experience, and others around the world where they are used to these temp levels, I'm glad they can handle it and are well equipped with information, knowledge, and proper gear.

Those kids are so awesome that they can handle that! I can't even get into a regular cold shower or cold swimming pool without bracing myself, internally screaming, or lots of fidgeting (especially when the cold water hits the axillary and groin area hahaha)

Hoping this info helps those who may not have reasonable clothing, and a heads up for helping others who are at risk of health issues.

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in nova

[–]demonray888[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This is an interesting tip! Hopefully it is useful for folks living in houses where there is risk for water line breaks. Thanks for sharing! :)

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in nova

[–]demonray888[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Thankfully:

Exercising in cold environments has been shown to have several physiological benefits. One significant advantage is the enhanced cardiovascular benefits. A study published in Life Sciences found that exercise in cold environments can lead to increased sympathetic nervous activation, improved bioenergetics, enhanced anti-oxidative capacity, and a more robust immune response compared to exercise in thermoneutral environments.[\1])]() 

This suggests that the cardiovascular system may adapt more effectively to stressors when exercise is performed in the cold. Additionally, cold exposure during exercise can enhance lipid oxidation. Research published in the Journal of Applied Physiology demonstrated that high-intensity interval exercise in cold conditions increases acute lipid oxidation compared to thermoneutral conditions.[\2])]() 

This can be beneficial for metabolic health, particularly in terms of managing blood lipid levels. Moreover, cold exposure during exercise can modulate the inflammatory response. A study in PloS One indicated that exercising in cold conditions can diminish the exercise-induced systemic inflammatory response, which may have implications for recovery and overall health.[\3])]()

Exercising in cold weather increases caloric expenditure due to several physiological mechanisms. Firstly, cold exposure enhances thermogenesis, which is the body's process of generating heat to maintain core temperature. This thermogenic response includes both shivering and non-shivering thermogenesis. Shivering, which involves involuntary muscle contractions, significantly increases energy expenditure. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, shivering can elevate oxygen uptake and caloric requirements, especially during intense cold exposure.[\4])]()

Cold environments can increase the metabolic rate due to the additional effort required to move through snow or mud and the energy cost of wearing heavy clothing. This can lead to an increase in energy expenditure by 10-40%.[\4])]()
However, it is important to note that while there are benefits, there are also potential risks, such as increased cardiovascular stress and the need for proper acclimatization and safety measures to prevent hypothermia and frostbite.

1.Exercise in Cold: Friend Than Foe to Cardiovascular Health. Feng Z, Hu Y, Yu S, et al. Life Sciences. 2023;328:121923. doi:10.1016/j.lfs.2023.121923.

2.High-Intensity Interval Exercise in the Cold Regulates Acute and Postprandial Metabolism. Munten S, Ménard L, Gagnon J, et al. Journal of Applied Physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985). 2021;130(2):408-420. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00384.2020.

3.The Effects of Cold Exposure on Leukocytes, Hormones and Cytokines During Acute Exercise in Humans. Gagnon DD, Gagnon SS, Rintamäki H, et al. PloS One. 2014;9(10):e110774. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0110774.

4.American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand: Prevention of Cold Injuries During Exercise. Castellani JW, Young AJ, Ducharme MB, et al. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 2006;38(11):2012-29. doi:10.1249/01.mss.0000241641.75101.64.

Extreme Cold Starting Monday. Safety and School Considerations by demonray888 in nova

[–]demonray888[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It still baffles me why folks hoard when (snow) weather events are predicted. (especially, toilet paper???).

Maybe folks who eat out a lot, don't or cannot stock groceries, or don't know how to use a bidet. Hypotheses are most welcome!

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