Alice has a chronic problem: her hands and feet are always cold, even though she wears a lot and the heating system makes her office warm like spring.

In winter, the syndrome turns more serious: besides two down quilts, she prepares two hot-water bottles every night - one for her feet and the other for her hands.

When talking about coldness syndrome during lunch with her colleagues, she suddenly found that she was not the only victim in her office - almost all her women colleagues suffer from the syndrome more or less.

Some always have coldness in the waist or knees; some are very sensitive to the weather dropping.

"Alice's coldness syndrome should be traced to the yin-yang theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine," Professor Zhu Kangmei of Shuguang Hospital explained.

Originally, yin and yang were the two topographical terms designating the shady and sunny side of a hill respectively. By extension, the terms represent two opposite sides of any object or phenomenon.

More Energy

Females are yin and males are yang, which means than women have a cool physical condition and men have a hot one.

The yin-yang theory also extends to natural phenomena - winter as the coldest season is also yin.

"Due to the combined causes of the physical and seasonal conditions, women have more yin energy in the body so they are more sensitive to coldness than men," said Zhu.

As the blood flows around the body, it also carries warmth to the various organs. "Bad circulation of the blood is also a factor causing coldness syndrome," said Zhu.

Blood Circulation

"If the patients have coldness in the feet, hands, waist or elsewhere, they may have some problems with blood flow, either slow or blocked."

There are a few reasons for unhealthy blood circulation.

Women's blood vessels are usually smaller than men's, so less blood flow brings them less warmth.

The quality of the blood is another important factor. If the river is clear, the water may flow very smoothly, but if there is waste or mud in the river, the speed will slow down.

The blood circulation is the same.

If the blood is clear and healthy, it can flow smoothly through the vessels; but if the blood contains too much waste or fat, it will become sluggish and viscous.

The most crucial basis for a healthy blood circulation is the heart, which is the pump.

"But modern people's heart function is reducing due to less labouring work and insufficient sports, thus, with weak heart muscles, the heart pumps blood at a lower rate." said Zhu.

Health Tips

Professor Zhu gave Alice some suggestions to ease her coldness syndrome.

Take more sports to improve your heart function and blood circulation, which is the fundamental way to cure the coldness syndrome.

Besides, when one takes exercises, the body can create its own heat, which is a better way to keep the body warm than air-conditioners.

As for office workers, they should take a break between periods of desk work to move their bodies and legs since muscle movement produces warmth to defend against coldness.

Enjoy the sunshine in the open fields, because natural sunshine is a very good source of yang "heat energy."

(Shanghai Star January 25, 2003)