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During severe frosts, the temperature of our body drops by 2 degrees Celsius every hour. This is an alarming rate, because even when the body cools down to 24 degrees Celsius, death may occur. Death, which we are not aware of, because a person in a state of hypothermia feels warmth spreading through the body.
- Severe frost is coming to Poland. In some parts of the country the temperature at night can drop even to several degrees below zero
- Although the victims of frosts most often fall under the influence of alcohol, death from hypothermia can happen during a late return home or a mountain trip
- When we go out to frost in winter, our fingers usually go numb first. In this way, the body saves energy and focuses on keeping the most important organs working, such as the brain, heart, lungs and kidneys
- When our body temperature drops to 33 degrees Celsius, apathy and dementia appear. When the body is cooled down, it stops feeling cold. So many people just give up and just fall asleep, or in fact, pass out
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What happens to the body at such extreme temperatures?
A man on the verge of deadly hypothermia is not aware of the realities of the surrounding environment. He has hallucinations and hallucinations. She undresses because she begins to feel warm, even hot. Rescue expeditions found high-altitude climbers who died of hypothermia without their jackets. However, a few people survived and were able to share about their experiences.
At -37 degrees Celsius, the temperature of the human body drops by 2 degrees Celsius every hour. This is an alarming rate, because even when the body temperature drops to 24 degrees Celsius, death can occur. And we may be completely unaware of the imminent threat, because after the penetrating cold and numbness of the limbs, blissful warmth arrives.
Poland winter
When we go out to frost in winter, our fingers usually go numb first. It is obvious that protruding parts of the body freeze most. But that’s not the whole truth. The body, defending itself against hypothermia, “reduces the heating” of those parts that are not necessary for our survival, and focuses on supporting the work of the most important organs, i.e. the brain, heart, lungs and kidneys. Most people have no control over this process, although seasoned yoga masters are said to be able to endure the cold much better and longer.
But we can protect ourselves. American research has shown that by heating the body we reduce the “heat drain” from the limbs and fingers. During the research, the state of the organism of people normally dressed and wearing heated vests was compared. This is an important discovery because it allows people working in extremely low temperatures to be properly prepared for longer and more efficient manual work.
It is also worth taking proper care of your skin to nourish it and properly care for it. For this purpose, order the Emulsion with vitamin E for the whole Panthenol Family.
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Drunken survival instinct
Every year in Poland about 200 people die of hypothermia. Under the influence of alcohol, homeless people freeze most often. In these people, even before the changes in the body caused by the low temperatures occur, a healthy survival instinct is broken. The same is true of most people who step onto thin ice and die under it. But when the frosts exceed -15 degrees Celsius, each of us can get cold – even on the way to work, not to mention hiking in the mountains.
The time during which the human body defends itself against the effects of cooling factors depends on the efficiency of its personal protective mechanisms. Initially, the blood vessels contract and the metabolism is “turned up”, which results in muscle tension and chills, and the displacement of water from the vascular bed into the cells. However, these defensive reactions result in blood condensation and an increase in blood pressure, which puts an excessive burden on the circulatory system. During prolonged exposure to frost, the body triggers further defense reactions: it digests food more intensively, and more glucose is processed than usual.
Claude Bernard, a French physician and physiologist, found that on severe freezing, carbohydrate mobilization would increase, causing blood sugar to rise in what he called “cold diabetes”. During the next phase of defense, the body uses up stores of glycogen from the liver, muscles, and other organs and tissues.
If the body continues to cool down, defenses will wear out and the body will begin to give up. The deepening lowering of the temperature will inhibit the biochemical processes. The use of oxygen in the tissues will decrease. Insufficient amount of carbon dioxide in the blood will lead to respiratory depression. As a result, there will be a profound impairment of breathing and blood circulation, which will lead to the cessation of breathing and the cessation of the cardiovascular system, which will become the direct cause of death. Then the man will be unconscious. Death will occur when the internal body temperature is lowered to about 22-24 degrees C. Even unconscious people who die of hypothermia very often curl up “in a ball”.
In the skin of a climber
When our body temperature drops by 1 ° C, our muscles become tense. The limbs and fingers begin to ache severely, sometimes the neck becomes stiff. With the loss of another degree, sensory disturbances appear. We have noticeable problems with smell, hearing and eyesight, but of course the feeling is the worst.
At 33 degrees Celsius, apathy and dementia appear. At this temperature, the body is usually so cold that it no longer feels cold. So many people just give up and just fall asleep, or in fact, pass out. Death is coming very fast. It is quiet and peaceful.
But before that, a very strange thing can happen. Some mountaineers tell about it. A man on the verge of deadly hypothermia is not aware of the realities of the surrounding environment. Auditory and visual hallucinations are very common. In such conditions, we most often experience the desired states – in this case, heat. Sometimes the sensation is so strong that people with hypothermia feel as if their skin is on fire. Rescue expeditions sometimes find mountain climbers who have died of hypothermia without their jackets. The feeling of warmth was so strong that they decided to take their clothes off. However, several such people were saved at the last moment, thanks to which they could tell about their impressions.
When the body temperature is lowered, metabolism decreases and irreversible changes in the brain appear quite late. Therefore, a person found in a state of supercooling, in whom it is difficult to even feel the pulse and breath, can be saved thanks to a skilfully conducted resuscitation action.
The effect of cooling down – frostbites
The local action of cold also causes frostbite. These changes most often occur in parts of the body with less blood supply, especially exposed to low temperatures, such as the nose, auricles, fingers and toes. Frostbites are a consequence of local circulatory disorders resulting from changes in the wall and the lumen of small blood vessels.
Due to the nature and degree of their severity, a 4-level frostbite assessment scale is adopted. Grade I is characterized by a “whitening” of the skin, swelling that then becomes bluish red. Healing may take 5-8 days, although then there is an increased sensitivity of a given area of the skin to the effects of cold. In the second degree frostbite, the swollen and bluish-red skin form subepidermal blisters of various sizes filled with bloody contents. It will take 15–25 days to heal and no scars will develop. Here, too, is hypersensitivity to cold.
Stage III means skin necrosis with the development of inflammation. The frostbitten tissues encapsulate over time, and changes remain in the damaged areas. Sensory nerves are damaged, which in turn leads to a lack of feeling in these parts of the body. In the fourth degree frostbite, deep necrosis develops, reaching the bone tissue. The skin is black, the subcutaneous tissue is jelly-like swollen, and pressure exudes a bloody, serous fluid. Frosted parts, e.g. fingers, may mummify and even fall off. Usually, an amputation is necessary.
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After dying from hypothermia
During an autopsy of a person who died from hypothermia, the pathologist finds brain swelling, congestion of internal organs, the presence of clear blood in the vessels and cavities of the heart, and an overflow of the urinary bladder. The last symptom is the effect of increased diuresis, which occurs even during a normal walk on a cooler autumn day. On the gastric mucosa, roughly 80 to 90 percent. cases, the pathologist will notice strokes called Wiszniewski’s spots. Doctors believe that they are formed as a result of a violation of the regulatory function of the vegetative nervous system. This is a very specific sign of death from hypothermia.
Fully freezing the brain increases its volume. This can damage the skull and cause it to burst. Such postmortem damage may mistakenly be considered an impact injury.
The level of alcohol in the body of a person who died of hypothermia can be determined, but usually a blood test will not reflect the actual amount consumed and will show a lower value. This is because the defending body tries to metabolize alcohol faster. And it has as much as 7 kcal per gram. To determine the degree of intoxication of a person who died as a result of freezing, a urine test is a more reliable indicator.
It would seem that such fatal accidents occur rather around the Arctic Circle. Nothing could be more wrong. People living in frosty climates are well prepared for biting frosts and know how to cope with such conditions. The frost should never be underestimated, because a tragedy can happen at the most unexpected moment, e.g. during a night return from a party.
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