Hypothermia - The Cold Facts

If you ever go to cold countries, you should undoubtedly have heard of Hypothermia. If you haven't, you should learn something about it. Your very own life may depend on knowing the information below:

Hypothermia is a condition marked by an abnormally low internal body temperature. It develops when body heat is lost faster than it can be replaced. Normal muscular and cerebral functions become impaired and death can follow if it becomes worse. This takes place below 96º F and lower.

Signs of hypothermia include confusion or sleepiness; slurred speech or shallow breathing; weak pulse or low blood pressure; stiffness in the arms or legs or poor control over body movements. Severe hypothermia can cause an irregular heartbeat, leading to heart failure and death.

Symptoms of Hypothermia

Shivering is typically the first sign of hypothermia. It eventually becomes uncontrollable. However with severe hypothermia, shivering stops. One of the key indicators that the victim has moved from mild/moderate hypothermia to severe hypothermia is that he/she is no longer shivering.

Behavior changes like complaining, difficulty in speaking, and uncoordinated movements. Victims will struggle to perform simple tasks like walking a straight line or zipping up their coat. With severe hypothermia, behavior changes from erratic to apathetic to unresponsive. Uncharacteristic behavior like inappropriate excitement or lethargy, poor judgment, and poor decision making are common.

Cold, pale and blue-gray skin due to constricting blood vessels. May develop into a coma, with dilated pupils making it difficult to determine if the victim is alive or dead.

How Heat is Lost from the Body

Convection: Heat is carried away from the body by currents of air or water. Wind chill is an example of convection.

Conduction: Transfer of heat between two contacting surfaces. Water conducts heat 25 times faster than air and steel is even faster than water. Generally conductive heat loss accounts for only about 2% of overall loss. However, with wet clothes the loss is increased 5 times.

Evaporation: Heat loss when water is removed from the body during sweating and respiration.

Radiation: The loss of radiated heat from a warm body to a surrounding colder environment. This is more significant on cold, cloudless nights. Factors important in radiant heat loss are the surface area and the temperature gradient.

It is important to recognize the strong connection between fluid levels, fluid loss, and heat loss. As the body moisture is lost through the various evaporative processes the overall circulating volume of water in the body is reduced, leading to dehydration. This decrease in fluid level makes the body more susceptible to hypothermia.

Field Treatment for Hypothermia

The basic principles of re-warming a hypothermic victim are to conserve the heat they have and to replace the body fuel they are burning up to generate that heat.

Reduce Heat Loss. Find shelter from the wind, and cold. This could be under a tree, in tent, or in a sleeping bag. If at all possible, get the victim off of the ground (a foam pad would be ideal). Remove any wet clothing and replace with layers of dry clothing, increased physical activity.

Add Fuel and Fluids. Keep a hypothermic person adequately hydrated and fueled. Give them warm, sweet liquids but NO coffee or tea - and NEVER ALCOHOL!

Alcohol - a vasodilator - increases peripheral heat loss

Caffeine - a diuretic - causes water loss increasing dehydration

Tobacco/nicotine - a vasoconstrictor, increases risk of frostbite Provide Heat Source. Light a fire or a stove.

Seek Medical Attention as quickly as possible. Never leave a hypothermic victim alone.

Prevention of Hypothermia

Dress Appropriately. Wear clothing to keep the warmth. Avoid cotton!

Stay Dry - be aware that water comes from both the outside (environment) and the inside (perspiration). Stay out of the wind if possible.

Keep Your Body Burning. Stay hydrated, and eat foods like carbohydrates and proteins to provide energy.

Conserve Your Energy. Exhaustion leads to a quicker onset of hypothermia.

Summary

It's important to keep warm and dry during the cold, winter months. Dressing appropriately can make a big difference. Wear several loose, warm layers. Thick wool socks and a cap can combat winter's chills. At night, use extra blankets because hypothermia can develop during sleep. Thermal underwear are excellent for keeping the heat in your body.

Get plenty of rest. Fatigue makes you more vulnerable to subnormal heat and cold. Eat nutritious foods, and exercise moderately. Limit your alcohol intake because alcohol speeds up body heat loss.

I hope this information will serve you well when you travel to the extremely cold regions of the world. As a professional seafarer who had worked in extremely cold regions, I have found that thermal underwear gives excellent comfort even in icy arctic cold weather conditions. Excellent high tech thermal underwear could be obtain from Hi-tech Thermal Underwear

Many years of working experience in Marine, Facilities, Construction has given the author material for writing e-books and articles related to engineering, and management. Subscribe to facworld ezine More information at Marine Engineer and M & E Engineer

---

Alcohol Rehabilitation Centers - Take An Informed Decision

Alcohol rehabilitation centers in the United States offer a wide range of treatment programmes for your recovery from alcoholism.They provide services such as detoxification, residential treatment, day... Read More

An Introduction to Acid Reflux Disease

Acid reflux disease, also known as Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease or GERD, afflicts millions of people. Many suffer from an occasional bout with heartburn, but acid reflux disease,... Read More

Naproxen Lawyer: Aleve Recall Consideration

Naproxen belongs to a class of drugs called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. This basically means it's a common pain reliever among the ranks of ibuprofen (Motrin), indomethacin (Indocin),... Read More

The Check Doctor Credentials Theory

In 2003, there where more than 890 million doctor visits in the U.S. according to the (CDC) Center for Diseases Control and Prevention. "More now than ever... Read More

Five Secrets of High Blood Pressure Treatment

Thirty percent of human population has a high blood pressure and everyone has a 90% risk to acquire it during the rest of the life. As a... Read More

Kids and Medication Part II

In continuation of mood enhancement drugs for kids and adolescents, we next discuss the issues of Prozac. Of course there is the other favorite drug Prozac which... Read More

Lunesta Revealed: 7 Things You Must Know Before You Buy Lunesta Prescriptions

Lunesta is a newly released sleeping pill. Marketed as a revolutionary sleep aid, Lunesta is the only medication approved by the FDA for long term treatment of... Read More

Joint Pain Relief

If you joints are constantly killing you, here are three suggestions:1. Traumeel is a product that has been used for years in Germany to relieve pain. I... Read More

10 Home Remedies For Arthritis Pain Relief

Your Remedy No. 1 ==============Stretch Gently for Strength and Mobility.When it comes to arthritis, moving hurts, but not moving destroys.Incorrect moving harms, but intelligent moving heals.Yoga teaches... Read More

Bextra and Vioxx Withdrawal Spurs Price Increase Among Rivals

The market for painkillers is huge. People don't like pain and inflammation, and last year Americans spent nearly $4 billion on just two of them ? Vioxx... Read More

Why Drug Companies are Naughty and 5 Remedies to Cure the Symptoms

With the hum of the election campaign and the debate of "big business," versus human interest, I decided to do a bit of muckraking into the art... Read More

Alprazolam/Xanax ? A Habit Forming Drug

Xanax is a Prescription Drug which is habit forming. You can become physically and psychologically dependent on the Xanax medication. Nevert take more than the prescribed amount... Read More

Parasites In Your Colon

Your colon is a place for other parasites and organisms to breed and live. Many are harmful to your health and enter the body in various ways... Read More

A Fresh Start Plan for People With Neck Pain!

"If you have to deal with chronic neck pain, it can be a real struggle. I know? because I've had to do it myself," states Dr. Nathan... Read More

Three Antioxidants (ginko biloba, grade seed extract, and selenium) for Alzheimers Treatment

Checklist of Treatments for Alzheimer's DiseasePart 3 of 83. Three Antioxidants: ginko biloba, selenium, grape seed extract. There are numerous antioxidants available to combat free radicals in... Read More

Facial Pain: When a Nerve Is a Live Wire

Of all the places in the body that can hurt, the face might seem the strangest. But for some people, that's exactly where the agony occurs, and... Read More

Environmental Medicine

Our modern preservatives and other pollutants like yellow dye no. 5 have caused bodily responses which detract or impair the natural process of our system. It is... Read More

Why R.I.C.E.?

What is R.I.C.E. and why do you need it? One of the most recommended icing techniques for reducing inflammation and treating minor injuries is R.I.C.E., an acronym... Read More

The P Value And Its Significance

When diversifying an investment portfolio, one needs to consider investing in the healthcare industries. Pharmaceutical companies that have strong pipelines of investigation drugs have strong growth speculations.... Read More

Viga Lies Cause Potential Fatalities

Viga and Viga for Women is a dietary supplement sold OTC and via the internet that marketed itself not as a prescription drug but as a dietary... Read More

Exposing the Miracle Cure

It was Saturday morning and while I was making breakfast, letting the cats outside, and watering my half-dead plants, I had the TV on. Saturday morning TV... Read More

Warning! Flu Shots Can Be Dangerous To Your Health

Every year about this time doctors around the world are recommending that people go in and get their annual flu shot. What most people don't know or... Read More

The Trouble with Tranqs

There's a whole group of drugs out there called benzodiazepines.They are tranquillisers, or sedatives. They include such well-known names as Valium (diazepam), Ativan (lorazepam), Librium (chlordiazepoxide), Tranxene... Read More

Molluscum Contagiosum Virus (MCV) Treatment Information - But First, What Is Molluscum?

Molluscum contagiosum treatment is certainly possible with the correct treatment information.Many people are told that molluscum contagiosum must be left to run its course (even by dermatologists).... Read More

Serevent Side Effects Put Serevent in Top 5 Most Dangerous Drugs

Serevent is an asthma inhalation medication, a bronchodilator, that relaxes the muscles in airways. It is preventative and not effective when taken during an asthma attack.Possible side... Read More

Lunesta Tolerance

Lunesta is a newly released sleeping pill. Marketed as a revolutionary sleep aid, Lunesta is the only medication approved by the FDA for long term treatment of... Read More