When does hypothermia threaten?
Shivering with cold: we all do it. But does that shivering and trembling actually have a function? And when does hypothermia threaten? PlusOnline answers seven questions about cold.
1. Why do we shiver when it’s cold?
Because the body can shiver. The shivering happens because muscles – beyond our will – to act. They provide heat. The body can produce up to four times as much heat with violent shivering as at rest. But usually you don’t wait for a warm shiver and put on something warm after the first shivers.
2. How long can you shiver?
A healthy person can shiver and make heat for hours. But at some point the energy to move runs out: the shivering stops. After that, the body suddenly cools down much more strongly than during shivering.
3. Who shivers badly?
People who alcohol have been drinking, because alcohol inhibits shivering. Weakened, sick people also shiver less vigorously. Babies don’t have to shiver: they have a layer of fat around the vertebrae that allows them to make heat. They sometimes really need that layer of fat, because babies lose body heat faster than adults. This is because babies have a relatively larger skin surface compared to their body weight. And through the skin a lot of heat is lost.
4. When does hypothermia threaten?
Hypothermia is when the body temperature falls below 35°C. If the temperature drops below 30°C, there is a danger to life because the heart starts beating very quickly and irregularly (fibrillate). Getting hypothermic can happen in the rain or cold water within hours. But even with severe hypothermia, the victim can still fully recover. Swimming in cold water can become very difficult after just a few minutes, threatening drowning.
Cooling down is much slower in ‘dry’ cold than in humid weather. Oddly enough, hypothermia happens to people in the Netherlands almost as often in the summer as in the winter. That’s because you get hypothermic faster when you’re wet. Water conducts body heat 25 times better than air. In the summer, more Dutch people do water sports than in the winter. Apparently people underestimate how quickly they cool down when they get wet on the water, or when they get wet.
5. When is there a threat of frostbite?
If it freezes very hard and there is a strong wind, uncovered skin can be damaged within a few minutes to freeze. Wind causes cooling to go faster. The effect of cold and wind together is called ‘wind chill’ or wind chill. As soon as weather reports warn of low wind chill temperatures, it is very important to cover the skin well. Also think about the eyes: protect them with a glasses. You do not feel the freezing. It is best to look closely at the color of the skin. Turning white indicates the onset of frostbite.
6. Which diseases are more common in cold?
Flu and colds. This is mainly because people often stay in the same room with others and thus spread viruses more quickly. When you step out of heat into the cold, the blood vessels of the skin constrict. This can put a lot of strain on the heart and cause heart cramps (angina pectoris) cause. In people with asthma, cold can make symptoms worse.
7. Do more people die in the cold?
Yes, more people die in cold weather than at 17°C, the daytime temperature at which the fewest people die. At -5°C, mortality is about 10 percent higher than the average. Death in the cold does not occur immediately. There is only a peak after a few days, but the peak mortality during the cold is not fully compensated. So it’s not that people just died a little earlier. Due to the cold, deaths from cardiovascular diseases and lung diseases up.
Sources):
- Plus Magazine
