2002 Volume 29 Issue 5 Pages 878-884
We studied the relationships between the physical characteristics and the living environment in female students with cold constitution (cold group) by a questionnaire method.
More than a half of the students investigated felt chillness in toes, legs, fingers, arms, waist and etc., and they suffered from the paralysis of arms and legs, chilblains, as well as sleeplessness induced by cold. Among physical parameters studied, mean body weight and mean body mass index (BMI) were significantly lower in the cold group than in normal students (control group), suggesting a positive relation between their slender figures and the cold constitution. Anemia was also significantly higher in the cold group, who tended to having relatives (within the third degree of relationship by blood) with the cold constitution. Furthermore, there were many students in the cold group who have symptoms responsible for dysfunction of autonomic nerve system.
Taken together, it is revealed that the cold constitution may be mainly related to heredity, and that young women with the cold constitution have a tendency of slender figure.
