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Journalism of Courage
Notwithstanding the cold wave sweeping north India, member of the Indian National Congress Rahul Gandhi was seen paying his respects to former prime ministers Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee at their memorials in Delhi as part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra in a plain white t-shirt. The visuals of the member of the parliament without any woolens left netizens wondering (and shivering!) how he doesn’t feel cold, despite with temperature dropping below six degrees.
Twitter, as expected, was flooded with comments and reactions.
https://twitter.com/ThePlaycardGirl/status/1607747836300652544
One user wrote, “My vote for Rahul Gandhi in 2024 for wearing Tshirt in cold”, while another commented, “I think Rahul Gandhi is having a heater in his T shirt that’s why he is not feeling cold.”
https://twitter.com/Brijesh24628247/status/1607350654598803456
Author Anand Ranganathan also took to Twitter to claim, “One in five Italians have a mutation in the ACTN3 gene because of which they can withstand extreme cold.”
Rahul Gandhi was also seen wearing the white t-shirt during his yatra in Rajasthan, and Haryana.
What’s the science behind some people feeling cold, with others snuggling under layers of woolies?
It is not science, it is how our body functions, say experts. According to Dr P Venkata Krishnan, Internal Medicine, Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon, more than science, it is about the physiology of our body or how our body functions. “The feeling of cold and warmth is through certain nerves, the receptors of which are present on the skin. Through the sensations of these nerves, you feel cold or warm. Some people’s nerves can tolerate cold whereas, others can’t,” he told indianexpress.com.
Agreed Dr Subhendu Mohanty, interventional cardiologist, Sharda Hospital, Noida. “Just like some people sweat less than others, some feel less cold than others.”
According to a 2021 research about a common genetic variant in the skeletal muscle gene, ACTN3, one in five people lack a muscle protein called alpha-actinin-3 due to a single genetic change in the ACTN3 gene. Dr RR Dutta, HOD-internal medicine, Paras Hospitals, Gurugram agreed that it could be one of the reasons for some being resilient to cold temperatures.
Dr Krishnan further said people who work out regularly are known to tolerate the cold better, owing to their basal metabolic rate, which is higher compared to others. “Basal metabolic rate or the resting rate of the body is the rate at which the body burns fat without doing anything extensive. So, genetics has a big role to play,” he explained.
Further, Dr Dutta told indianexpress.com, “Gender also plays a part in cold intolerance. Research suggests women are more likely to feel cold all the time, because they often have a lower metabolic rate than men. This means their bodies produce less heat, making them feel colder.”
He added that people with more muscle mass can also maintain their core temperature better than others. “Also, some people with hormonal abnormalities like thyroid have altered sensitivity to environmental temperature,” Dr Dutta said.
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