Affiliation:
1. Department of Emergency Medicine University of Vienna Austria
Abstract
SUMMARY This study investigates the influence of alcohol on body core temperature during cold‐water immersion in human volunteers. In this randomised, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled crossover trial, 8 healthy male volunteers were randomised to drink 1 litre of beverage containing 50 g alcohol or placebo before 20°C cold‐water immersion for 1 hour. Body core temperature was measured before cooling and after 1 hour of immersion with an infrared ear thermometer. After a 1‐week interval subjects crossed to the other study branch. In the placebo test, mean temperature decreased after immersion by 0.66°C; after the alcohol mean temperature decreased by 1.0°C (mean difference 0.34, 95% CI 0.14‐0.53, P=0.002).