What is hypothermia and what are the symptoms?

Hypothermia is a condition when the heat of the body loses quickly than it can produce heat. Due to this condition, the temperature of the body gets very low. The normal body temperature of the human is around 98.6 F but due to hypothermia, the temperature of the body reduces around 95 F.

The risk of getting hypothermia increases in winter. Due to the low body temperature, many organs such as heart, nervous system can't work properly. If the temperature of the person's body keeps falling, it may lead to death.

Common symptoms of hypothermia:

Shivering is the very first and most common symptom of hypothermia. A person starts shivering when the temperature decreases because shivering is the automatic body defense against the cold to warm itself.

Other symptoms of hypothermia are:

• Shallow breathing
• A decrease in pulse rate
• Memory loss or confusion
• Stuttered speech
• Red and cold skin
• Low energy
• Falling asleep

Causes which can lead to Hypothermia:

• Wearing fewer clothes in the chilly winter season
• Wandering outside in the cold for a long time
• Wearing wet clothes in cold
• Falling into the lake
• Staying in the place with poor heating

Risk factors for hypothermia:

• Fatigue: If a person is fatigued, the body tolerance towards the cold gets diminished.
• Age factor: The ability of the body to regulate the heat and sense to feel the cold reduces with increasing age. Due to these factors, they are more likely to get hypothermia. Children can also lose body heat because children usually ignore the weather and never wear clothes properly.
• Alcohol and drug abuse: A person feels warm after intake of alcohol but due to this the blood vessels of the body gets expand which causes rapid heat loss from the body surface. Abuse of alcohol and drugs can affect the nervous system which causes failure in judging the temperature, if a person passed out in cold winter, he may develop hypothermia.
• Medical conditions: Certain medical conditions can affect the ability of the body to regulate heat such as anorexia nervosa, stroke, Parkinson's disease, hypothyroidism, or any kind of trauma.
• Medications: Some medicines can disturb the body's ability to regulate temperature such as narcotic pain medications, antidepressants, sedatives etc.

Treatment for hypothermia

First aid treatment for hypothermia:

If you see a person with hypothermia, you should take this first aid treatment before the medical help arrives:

i. Move the person to some warm place like a shelter

ii. Remove his wet clothes

iii. Cover his whole body with blankets but leave the face uncovered

iv. Monitor his breathing, if the person is not breathing, give him CPR

v. Provide him body heat by removing your clothes and wrapping yourself and him in a blanket together to transfer your body heat

vi. If the person comes into senses provide him something warm to drink, but no caffeine or alcohol

Homeopathic remedies for hypothermia:

Homeopathic remedies can also use for treating mild hypothermia, but you need a professional recommendation for treating hypothermia with homeopathic medications. You can contact Doctors in New Jersey

for the best recommendation about homeopathic medications. Some common homeopathic remedies for hypothermia are:

• Aconitum
• Arnica
• Carbo vegetabilis
• Cuprum metallicum

Medical treatment:

There are 3 techniques for treating hypothermia:

1. Passive external rewarming: This technique involves removing cold, wet clothing from one's body and replacing them with insulated, dry clothes and moving him to a warm place.
2. Active external rewarming: In this technique, warm devices such as hot water bottle are placed externally to the truncal areas.
3. Active core rewarming: In this method, hot fluid is used to irritate body cavities, include, stomach, bladder, peritoneum, and thorax.

The best prevention from hypothermia is to stay warm in winters. Avoid children to play outside in chilly cold weather.

Hello everyone! Albert has 5 years of experience in writing contents related to health and fitness and much more for the people who seeks for any information.