Subcooling

General description of the disease

It is also called hypothermia… This is a potentially dangerous drop in human body temperature, which, as a rule, is triggered by prolonged exposure to low air or ambient temperatures. The risk of hypothermia increases with the onset of winter. However, this disease can also be encountered in spring and even summer. If the normal body temperature is 36.6 – 37 degrees, then with hypothermia it drops to 35 degrees, and in very extreme cases even to 30 ^[1].

The reasons that provoke the occurrence of hypothermia

The most common cause of hypothermia is, of course, getting into a low temperature environment and not being able to warm up in it. The balance of our body temperature is disturbed when the production of heat is significantly inferior to its losses.

Hypothermia often occurs when a person does not dress for the weather, overcools in wet clothes. You can protect yourself from this. For example, climbers who climb the highest mountain on the planet – Everest, save themselves from severe frosts and through winds with the help of special thermal underwear, which helps to keep the heat generated by the body. ^[1].

Hypothermia also occurs from being in cold water. Even a long stay in water at a temperature of 24-25 degrees, more or less comfortable for the body, can provoke slight hypothermia. In a reservoir with a temperature of 10 degrees, you can die in an hour. In icy water, death can occur in 15 minutes.

However, even a non-aggressive environment can cause hypothermia. Much also depends on the person’s age, body weight, the presence of fat in the body, general health and the duration of exposure to cold temperatures. For example, in an unadapted adult, a mild stage of hypothermia can occur even after a night spent in a room at a temperature of 13-15 degrees. Babies and children sleeping in cold bedrooms are also at risk ^[2].

There are other reasons that are not related to the ambient temperature: hypothermia, chills can occur in people who suffer from diabetes and thyroid diseases, while taking certain medications, after receiving a serious injury, using drugs or alcohol, metabolic disorders ^[1].

Hypothermia symptoms

As hypothermia develops, the ability to think and move, and therefore take preventive measures, begins to decline.

Symptoms of mild hypothermia include:

• dizziness;
• shiver;
• feeling hungry and nauseous;
• increased breathing;
• lack of coordination;
• fatigue;
• increased heart rate.

Symptoms of moderate to severe hypothermia include:

• trembling (but it is important to pay attention to the fact that as hypothermia intensifies, the trembling stops);
• poor coordination;
• slurred speech;
• the appearance of confusion, difficulty in thought processes;
• drowsiness;
• apathy or lack of anxiety;
• weak pulse;
• short, slow breathing.

With a decrease in body temperature, its functions and performance begin to slow down significantly. In addition to feeling cold and shivering, hypothermia affects thinking and sanity. As a result of such opacities, severe hypothermia can go unnoticed by a person.

Primary symptoms may include hunger and nausea, followed by apathy. This can be followed by confusion, lethargy, slurred speech, loss of consciousness, and coma.

A person during a severe decrease in body temperature can fall asleep and die from the cold. When the body temperature drops, the brain starts to work worse and worse. It stops functioning completely when the body temperature reaches 20 degrees.

A phenomenon known as “paradoxical stripping»When a person takes off his clothes, despite the fact that he is very cold. This can happen in moderate to severe hypothermia as the person becomes disoriented, confused. When undressing, the rate of heat loss increases. This can be fatal.

Babies lose body heat even faster than adults, and yet they cannot shiver to get any warmth.

Symptoms of hypothermia in babies:

• bright red, very cold skin;
• low mobility, lack of energy;
• faint cry.

Babies should not sleep in a cold room, even with extra blankets, as there is a risk of suffocation. It is important to maintain the indoor temperature that is optimal for the child. ^[2].

Hypothermia stages

1. 1 Mild hypothermia (body temperature is about 35 ° C). A person trembles, his limbs grow numb, it becomes more difficult for him to move.
2. 2 Moderate hypothermia (body temperature is 35-33 ° C). Coordination begins to be lost, due to bleeding disorders, fine motor skills are disturbed, trembling intensifies, and speech becomes not intelligible. Behavior can become irrational.
3. 3 Severe hypothermia (body temperature is less than 33-30 ° C). The tremor comes in waves: at first it is very strong, then there is a pause. The colder a person is, the longer the pauses will be. Eventually, they will stop due to the heat generated from the burning of glycogen in the muscles. At this stage, a person, as a rule, tries to instinctively lie down, curl up in a ball to keep warm. Muscle stiffness develops as blood flow deteriorates and lactic acid and carbon dioxide build up. The skin turns pale. At 32 ° C, the body attempts to hibernate by shutting off all peripheral blood flow and decreasing respiration rate and heart rate. At a temperature of 30 ° C, the body is in a “metabolic refrigerator”. The victim looks dead, but is still alive. If treatment is not started immediately, breathing will become unstable and very slow, the level of consciousness will continue to fall, cardiac arrhythmias may develop, and all this can ultimately be fatal.

Complications of hypothermia

After general hypothermia of the body, a person may experience complications. Among them are:

• angina;
• sinusitis;
• bronchitis;
• problems with the nervous system;
• frostbite;
• cessation of cardiac activity;
• inflammation of the organs of the urinary system;
• tissue necrosis;
• problems with blood vessels;
• swelling of the brain;
• pneumonia;
• exacerbation of chronic diseases;
• acute renal failure.

This is an abbreviated list of those diseases and complications that can occur in a person who has had hypothermia. Sometimes a strong drop in body temperature ends in death.

That is why it is always very important to see a doctor for help.

Prevention of hypothermia

The risk group is those people who are more inclined to succumb to the factors that cause hypothermia. And this group includes the following categories.

1. 1 Children – they use up their heat faster than adults.
2. 2 Elderly people – due to a poor and sedentary lifestyle, they are more susceptible to temperature extremes.
3. 3 People addicted to alcohol or drugs, as their bodies spend their heat more intensively.

In general, hypothermia is a potentially preventable phenomenon.

In order not to overcool at home, take the following measures:

• Maintain the room temperature at least 17-18 ° C.
• The air temperature in the nursery must be at least 20 ° C.
• Close windows and doors in cold weather.
• Wear warm clothes, socks, and if possible, thermal underwear.
• Use a room thermometer to monitor temperature conditions.

In order not to overcool in the open air:

• Plan your activities, check the weather forecast in advance and dress appropriately for the weather conditions.
• If the weather changes, wear an extra layer of clothing.
• If you are sweating or wet outside on a cold day, try to replace these clothes with dry ones as soon as possible.
• Keep warm with non-alcoholic hot drinks.
• Make sure you have a phone, charger or portable battery with you so that if possible, you can call loved ones or doctors for help ^[3].

In order not to overcool in the water:

• Always watch the weather, water temperature. Do not swim if it is cold.
• Always wear a life jacket when going on a boat trip during the cold season. After all, the ability to move limbs and control their movements at a shock temperature is always violated.
• Have the opportunity to contact lifeguards.
• Do not swim far from the shore, especially if you realize that you are cold in the water.

First aid for hypothermia

Anyone with symptoms of hypothermia needs immediate medical attention. The most important thing is to warm the person while the doctors are on their way. So call an ambulance as soon as possible and try to follow 5 simple steps.

1. 1 Move the frozen person to a warm room.
2. 2 Remove damp, frozen clothing from it.
3. 3 Wrap it in warm blankets, blanket. Wrap it up to keep it warm. If possible, share your own body heat under the covers to help the person warm up faster.
4. 4 If the affected person can swallow on their own, give them a warm soft drink. It should also be caffeine-free.
5. 5 Give high-calorie, energy-rich foods to eat. Something that contains sugar is perfect. For example, a chocolate bar or a bar. But this can only be done if the victim can chew and swallow on their own. ^[3].

What not to do with hypothermia

• Do not use direct heat sources to warm a person: lamps, batteries, heaters or hot water as this can damage the skin. Worse, it can lead to irregular heartbeats and possibly cardiac arrest.
• Rubbing or massage should be avoidedas any annoying movement can lead to cardiac arrest ^[2].
• In no case should you dip your feet in hot water! Only in warm weather, the temperature of which is 20-25 degrees. Gradually, as you get used to, the water temperature can be brought to 40 degrees by pouring warm water into the basin. But this is an acceptable measure only for mild frostbite. At the middle and severe stage, this cannot be done without preliminary warming up.
• It is forbidden to keep warm with alcoholic beverages. They only create the illusion of heat spreading throughout the body, but in fact they provoke even greater heat transfer.
• You can’t buy in the coldas it slows down peripheral bleeding.

Hypothermia treatment in mainstream medicine

Treatment depends on the stage of hypothermia. It can range from passive external reheating of a person to active external reheating.

Passive external rewarming contributes to a person’s own ability to generate heat. For this, as a rule, they dress him in warm dry clothes, cover him so that he gets warm.

Active external heating consists of using external heaters such as hot water bottles or hot air blowing. In cold conditions, this can be done by placing a hot water bottle under both armpits.

In some difficult cases, the patient can be ventilated the lungs, inhaled with heated oxygen, ventilated the lungs, and administered vasodilators that will alleviate the unpleasant symptoms of hypothermia. At the last stage of hypothermia, it is necessary to flush the stomach and bladder.

Attention!

The administration is not responsible for any attempt to use the information provided, and does not guarantee that it will not harm you personally. The materials cannot be used to prescribe treatment and make a diagnosis. Always consult your specialist doctor!