Abstract
Different types of general cold adaptation have been described over the last 50 years.
Metabolic adaptation (Alacaluf Indians, Arctic Indians Eskimos), insulative adaptation
(coastal Aborigines of tropical northern Australia), hypothermic adaptation (bushmen
of the Kalahari desert, Peruvian Indians) and insulative hypothermic adaptation (Central
Australian Aborigines, nomadic Lapps, Korean and Japanese diving women). These different
types of cold adaptation are related to the intensity of the cold stress and to individual
factors such as diet, the level of physical fitness and body fat content. Thus, in
natural environments, man develops a strategy of adaptation to cold, which takes into
account environmental and individual factors. This strategy is susceptible to be modified
when these conditions change. Caloric intake deficit could have been responsible for
the hypothermic adaptation observed after J.-L. Etienne's journey to the North Pole.
Physiological responses were adapted to maintain an acceptable level of energetic
reserves with a moderate hypothermia, which was not life threatening for the climatic
conditions encountered by the polar explorer.
Key words
Cold - adaptation to cold - thermoregulation
