I'd like to know why I see so many senior citizens bundled up in heavy jackets and wool hats in the middle of

Question

summer? All summer long I see elderly women in warm winter coats, with hand knitted hats for winter, and I was wondering why? Please don't tell me its the air conditioning, these women are out walking in the 82 degree heat!

Answer 1

It is from the lack of muscle. It is muscle tissue that keeps a person warm, because the muscles keep the blood circulating in a timely fashion. Lose muscle, and you get poor circulation. Poor circulation leads to loss of function, including the breakdown of the bodies "food" sources...and one of the biproducts of this fuel is heat.

Ergo...low muscle tone, less heat produced, leading to a feeling of cold.

Answer 2

I used to wear suits quite often and had several (ladies' suits of course). Now I must confess I prefer separates and team trousers and skirts with jackets of colours which blend well. In the summer I occasionally wear a dress with a lightweight jacket. I have never done a job which entailed the women wearing ties. I sometimes wear a suitable necklace with my collar turned over it so that just the drop shows and sometimes I wear a brooch near the top button of my blouse. I think these give the same smartness that a tie gives. The lack of a tie on a man wearing a smart suit is not a good look at all i.m.o.

Answer 3

You sure would never see seniors here in east Texas with
coats on except for the few weeks of " winter " that we have.
Our air-conditioners run at least 10 mo's of the year. I think I had my heat on 3 times last year and only for maybe 15 min's each time. No sir, the oldsters here complain about the heat like everyone else.

Answer 4

I used to ask my late MIL why she'd wear a sweater during the
heat of summer when she'd visit us. And naturally she said
she was "cold natured". She lived in the S. Cal desert and
it would reach 114 easy. But it was a 'dry heat'. So she'd
be cold in our summer temps. But she never wore a heavy
coat tho. That would have been embarrassing in public.
Currantly this week I have a stomach flu and I have been
wearing fall clothes with long sleeves. And it's 70f during
the day. But I am cold all the time. So I would guess other
seniors dress warm if they too are sick and are thin skinned.

Answer 5

Perhaps it is habbit. If you watch any TV show or movie about the wildwest, including about the Earps in Tombstone, they always wore long coats! The last time I was in Tucson (a bit north of Tombstone) we had more than 180 consecutive days with temperatures above 100 degrees F.
Miners in the 1800s wore long-handled flannel longjohns in the desert southwest during summer.
It does protect against the sun. Have you seen pix of the Arabs?
Of course, another thing is, older people have poor circulation. You might be hot, but not them.

Answer 6

The older you get, the more heat your body needs to be comfortable. You really can get too chilly in 82 degrees especially if there's no sun out, or if there's a lot of wind.

Also folks who are thin and don't have a lot of body weight also have a lower core temp and need more clothes on to be more comfortable.

Answer 7

Poor circulation in the elderly causes that.

I would like to point out that I know a lady in her 30s who does this at work but she has a problem with her circulation already.

Just passing on the information.

Answer 8

Poor circulation, arthritis, diabetes, thyroid problems and a multitude of things make us older folks more sensitive to cold. Even wind can make us cold on a warm day. But if you decide to talk to one of us and you hold a hand for a moment don't be surprised if that gnarled bony hand feels like a block of ice.

Answer 9

Any person that has high blood pressure and has to take medicine for it, for the most part they also have to take blood thinners. Thus the blood thinners do just that, they thin your blood. Thin blood will cause you to be colder.

Every elder person that I have met and known has high blood pressure that has to be controlled and they also have to take the blood thinners so that the blood will flow threw the veins and not clot. If you have ever noticed that when a person that takes blood thinners they also have to be careful not to get cut as they bleed like a "free bleeder". And they also bruise very easy.

I take care of my parents, they stay cold most of the time, even in 100 degree weather.

Answer 10

You certainly won't see that where I live (Southern California).

When it gets that warm they're all out in shorts and halter tops. And some of them run around like that all year. Perhaps, we're just healthier old coots out here!