PHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISMS OF ADAPTATION TO COLD

The literary review is devoted to human adaptation to cold and rehabilitation and therapeutic uses of cryosauna. Main physiological mechanisms of adaptation to cold are analyzed. It is shown that adaptation to polar latitudes increases primarily the risks of cardiovascular diseases, as well as disorders in the respiratory and peripheral nervous systems. At the same time, many investigators consider cold exposure as a promising method to combat obesity and to treat the metabolic syndrome. Cryosayna can be an experimental model for studying cold effects on human organism, developing procedures of adaptation to cold and evaluation of the adaptation reserve.