Premium
Responses of Quechua Indians to coca ingestion during cold exposure
Author(s) -
Hanna Joel M.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330340210
Subject(s) - coca , ingestion , cold stress , vasoconstriction , coca cola , traditional medicine , zoology , medicine , biology , anesthesia , advertising , biochemistry , business , gene , psychiatry
Fourteen Quechua men chewed coca leaves as they were exposed to a mild cold stress of 15.5°C for two hours. When compared to their own responses in a similar exposure without coca, they showed lower finger and toe temperatures. This was attributed to a mild vasoconstriction induced by coca leaf chewing. During the second hour of cold, coca users also showed a more gradual decline in core temperature which could represent greater heat conservation.