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Hypothermia: Surviving the Cold, or Even the Not So Cold [1]

['Jane E. Brody']

Date: 2007-01-09

And while the weather has been unusually warm thus far in much of the country, temperatures need not be at freezing, or even very low, for hypothermia to occur. Most cases occur in air temperatures of 30 to 50 degrees. But people can succumb to overexposure even at 60 or 70 degrees. This is especially true when it is windy, because wind can carry away more heat than the body can generate, or when people get wet or land in water, because cold water accelerates heat loss 25-fold.

So it is crucial to know how to prevent a life-threatening loss of body heat and how to recognize the symptoms of hypothermia, preferably in its early stages, and safely reverse them.

Detecting Symptoms

People are warm-blooded animals that must generate their own body heat and, unless something goes wrong, maintain a core temperature of about 98 degrees. But when the body begins to lose heat faster than it can be produced, the risk of hypothermia sets in. Even a drop in core temperature of two or three degrees can have devastating consequences.

There are two types of hypothermia: primary and secondary. In primary hypothermia, the body’s heat-producing mechanisms are working well but can be overwhelmed by environmental exposure to cold air and wind or water. In secondary hypothermia, underlying conditions like strokes, diabetes, malnutrition, bacterial infection, thyroid diseases, spinal cord injuries, alcohol or other drugs interfere with the body’s heat-balancing abilities.

Babies are particularly vulnerable because they have a high ratio of body surface to mass and are unable to shiver to create more heat. The elderly, too, are vulnerable because people gradually lose some defenses against cold as they age, including the ability to move, shiver and contract blood vessels along the body’s periphery. In addition, many older people are malnourished, are taking medications or have chronic illnesses that affect their ability to conserve body heat.

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[1] Url: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/health/09brody.html

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