Health effects of voluntary exposure to cold water – a continuing subject of debate

Figures & data

Table 1. Exclusion criteria in database survey.

Animal studies (with a few exceptions where it was felt they were relevant for humans)

Cold stress without water immersion

Aggravations of medical conditions when exposed to seawater

Accidental cold-water immersions

Water temperatures greater than 20°C

Treatment of hyperthermia

Therapy in general

Studies investigating the effect of a medication on CWI

Research on people with conditions such as diabetes, Raynauds, cardiovascular disease, homozygous sickle cell disease

Studies using wet suits

Studies on cold weather altitude acclimatisation

Publications were there was only a title with an abstract or publications with only a title.

Studies only including the title

Figure 1. MEDLINE and EMBASE literature review medical subject MeSH terms (Medium, Action, Result, who) and functions (OR and AND) used in the literature survey.

Figure 2. The acute effects of cold exposure on human body physiology.

Figure 3. The effects of cold-water exposure on body systems physiology (References in parentheses).

Table

ACTH	Adrenocorticotropic hormone
ApoB	Apolipoprotein B
ApoA1	Apolipoprotein A1
at-pro-BNP	Aminoterminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide
AVA	Arteriovenous anastomosis
BAT	Brown adipose tissue
CD	Cluster of differentiation
CIVD	Cold induced vasodilation
CK	Creatine Kinase
CRP	C-reactive protein
CWI	Cold-water immersion
DIRT	Dynamic infrared thermography
FSH	Follicle-stimulating hormone
GPX1	Glutathione peroxidase 1
HLA-DR	Human Leukocyte Antigen-DR isotype
hsTnI	High sensitivity troponin I
hsTnT	High sensitivity troponin T
Ig	Immunoglobulin
IISA	The International Ice Swimming Associations
IL	Interleukin
IWSA	The International Winter Swimming Association
LDS	Long distance swimming
LH	Luteinizing hormone
PON-1	Paraoxonase-1
PTH	Parathyroid hormone
RBM3	RNA binding protein 3
RNA	Ribonucleic acid
T3	Triiodothyronine
TSH	Thyroid-stimulating hormone
UCP1	Uncoupling protein 1
URTI	Upper respiratory tract infections
WAT	White adipose tissue