Ledulák is a term I have just coined and use for translating the English word iceman; if snowman is sněhulák, then the iceman deserves the same status among Czech nouns. A Ledulák is the Dutch eccentric Wim Hof (*20.4.1959 – Aries), known for his ability to withstand cold and frost better than an average Russian person. Resting in a large ice bath and wrapped in ice, he can calmly sit and chat with people for about an hour and a half; among his other feats are a barefoot half-marathon in snow and ice beyond the polar circle, climbing Kilimanjaro in two days in shorts only, attempting to climb Mt. Everest in shorts (abandoned due to a foot injury), and many others.
It all began with studying and practicing yoga; at seventeen, an impulsive jump into icy water in winter in a Dutch canal (having removed his outer clothing beforehand) followed, and he found that he liked it so much that he kept repeating it. And he kept at it. He trained his breathing for fifteen years and practiced meditation, and now he travels the world and demonstrates what he can do. He also claims that his exercises help health and boost immunity, warding off colds and even serious diseases.
His system consists of repeated deep, truly deeply deep inhalation and then a spontaneous normal exhalation. This procedure is repeated forty times, during which the body becomes saturated with oxygen to one hundred percent. The body’s environment shifts toward the alkaline side. This is followed by a breath-hold of varying length (apnoea). Here, the Ledulák says, stress hormones come into play, and they trigger a useful immune response. Then the person should push out fully, as if needing to expel a particularly large and stubbornly persistent bowel movement, which sends oxygen to where it is needed.
All these theories might seem pataphysical, but scientists finally tracked down the Ledulák, examined him thoroughly, and reported: we put him in special clothing, which was soaked with water at different temperatures, so the body surface was cooled in a controlled manner, and we found that despite the very cold covering of the whole body, the Ledulák’s skin temperature remained the same. That means the Ledulák can influence his skin temperature through the autonomic nervous system. This had always been considered beyond voluntary control, which the Ledulák denied.
"Voluntary regulation of skin temperature—and therefore implicitly core temperature of the organism—even under conditions where the body is exposed to cold stress—is an unusual phenomenon that could explain the Ledulák’s resistance to extreme cold," said Professor Muzik (neurology, radiology, pediatrics) from Wayne State University, who led the study. The Ledulák also showed strong activation in a part of the brain called the insula, which belongs to the cortex but is hidden beneath the temporal and frontal lobes and further in the periaqueductal gray matter, which is one of the oldest parts of the brain; it is known to participate in pain regulation and is believed to (co-)regulate the release of opioids and cannabinoids.
The Ledulák himself states that he has discovered a non-pharmacological path to full health. For now, however, more journalists than healthcare professionals seem to be interested in it.
Author: MUDr. Radkin Honzák, CSc. Used literature:
Muzik O, et al.: 'Brain over body'-A study on the willful regulation of autonomic function during cold exposure. Neuroimage. 2018 Feb 10;172:632-641. Available on the internet: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811918300673