Weird hypothermia: from agitation to hallucinations

Nowadays, the climate in many parts of the world is becoming more and more abnormal. Not only are the summers extremely hot, but the winters are also unusually cold. Under this influence, the number of deaths due to climate has increased sharply.

Schematic diagram of surface temperature anomaly in February 2022

Compared with death caused by heat, death caused by hypothermia is even more "weird" because when people who are frozen to death are found, they will have a strange smile on their faces, which is incomprehensible.

In fact, this is all caused by hypothermia, from agitation to hallucinations, abnormal undressing, and finally death with a smile. How terrible is human hypothermia? What are some examples of hypothermia in the wild? Let's take a look!

Death from hypothermia is a phenomenon of hypothermia

What exactly is hypothermia?

Although the attack methods in the north and south are different in winter, one is magic attack and the other is physical attack, but in general, the degree of cold is similar. The difference is that in the north, it is warm when you walk into the house because there is heating, while in the south, the indoor temperature may be the same as the outdoor temperature.

Generally speaking, if we go out fully armed in winter, we will not experience symptoms of "hypothermia". Hypothermia often occurs during outdoor activities. Why do we say that?

Gansu marathon incident: 21 people died of hypothermia

This is because hypothermia itself refers to the phenomenon that occurs when the core temperature of the human body is lower than 35℃. At this time, some people may say that all human beings should be hypothermic, after all, everyone's body temperature is above 36℃.

It should be noted that core temperature is different from body temperature. Core temperature mainly refers to the temperature inside the chest and abdomen. When a person is cold, the body will first replenish the heat from all parts to the core, so core temperature actually represents our bottom line.

Schematic diagram of the body's temperature regulation mechanism

Just like when you go out in the winter, you may feel cold hands, face, and head buzzing from the cold, but as long as your core temperature is fine, you are safe.

When the body's heat loss is greater than the supply, the core temperature cannot maintain a normal state. In this case, the so-called hypothermia symptoms will appear. Hypothermia can generally be divided into four stages: mild, moderate, severe and fatal. Next, I will give you a detailed introduction to the main manifestations of these four stages.

Diagram of some symptoms of hypothermia

The first is the mild hypothermia stage, when the core body temperature is below 35°C, and although the person is still conscious, the limbs are already uncoordinated. The striated muscles of the body will tremble, the heartbeat will speed up, and walking will become slow or even shaky. However, people often don't pay much attention to it at this time, and simply regard it as being severely frozen.

The body temperature continues to drop, entering the moderate hypothermia stage, with the core temperature dropping to around 29°C. At this point, the body that was just shaking madly will stop shaking, but the consciousness will become hazy, and the brain will be groggy as if it is lacking oxygen. It can be said that people at this stage have problems with consciousness, and may even show language and visual impairments and hallucinations.

Lethargy is also a symptom of hypothermia

And the skin receptors that we use to sense temperature will fail at this time. Not only will the hypothalamic temperature regulation center no longer warn the body that it is very cold outside and that it should "retain heat", it will also send out the message that the body is very hot.

In this way, the blood vessels that had previously contracted due to the cold began to expand, making the unconscious person feel the illusion of "heat", and abnormal undressing occurred at this stage.

It's so cold but I still take off my clothes

When the temperature reaches the severe hypothermia stage, the core body temperature may reach 22℃. At this time, the hypothermic person has fallen into a coma, and the respiratory rate and heart rate have slowed down significantly. In the transition period from the previous stage to this stage, people will fall into hallucinations, and the false reminders of the skin receptors will make the brain create a "warm" feeling, which makes people smile.

Finally, the body temperature drops below 22℃ and hypothermia reaches the final stage. The person's muscles will gradually stiffen and life may end at any time.

Weird and terrible hypothermia

From this perspective, the description in "The Little Match Girl" is not only imaginative and sensational, but also has a certain basis in reality. The little girl who was shivering on the street must have suffered from hypothermia. She saw herself reunited with her family in her hallucinations and felt that she was in a warm room.

Little girl hallucinates her grandmother

To sum up, hypothermia can be fatal, and once it reaches the second stage, it is difficult for people to save themselves and they have to rely on others.

However, since the symptoms of hypothermia are not obvious, it is difficult for people to realize the stage from agitation to hallucination. Not to mention, if you are doing outdoor sports together, then once hypothermia occurs, more than one person will definitely suffer, and there is a possibility of "annihilation".

Hypothermia is the "invisible killer" during outdoor sports

For example, previously, staff members of the China Geological Survey Center died while conducting an investigation in Ailao Mountain, Yunnan Province. It was due to lack of water and hypothermia that all four people died.

In terms of physical condition, they are basically young and strong, but when faced with hypothermia, even the strongest body seems so weak. So what are the general conditions for hypothermia? How can we prevent it?

Ailao Mountain filled with thick fog

How to prevent hypothermia

In many people's opinion, hypothermia first occurs when the temperature is low enough, such as below 0℃, but in fact, hypothermia can also occur in weather around 4℃. Because hypothermia is also related to the energy stored in the human body and external heating equipment, if a person falls asleep in thin clothes at 4℃ outdoors, he or she will also face the risk of hypothermia.

Scientists say that hypothermia is often closely related to ambient temperature, humidity and wind speed. If you walk in a cold wind wearing a cotton coat soaked by rain, hypothermia will soon come to you.

Hypothermia often occurs in low temperature environments

This is why hypothermia often occurs during outdoor mountain sports. After all, when it suddenly rains in the mountains and people can't find a place to shelter from the rain, hypothermia symptoms will occur when multiple factors are met.

Therefore, the prevention of hypothermia can start from these aspects, pay attention to adding clothes at any time to ensure that your core temperature is retained. Secondly, before outdoor sports, carefully study the future weather conditions. If there is both low temperature and rain and snow, it is best not to do outdoor sports.

Wearing thick clothes to keep warm is the key

The second thing is to replenish food in time to ensure that you have sufficient physical energy. Because in outdoor sports, excessive sweating and fatigue often cause your body to lose heat faster, which may lead to hypothermia. At this time, if you can drink a cup of hot drink in time and take a proper rest, you can effectively avoid hypothermia.

In short, judging from the various conditions under which hypothermia may occur, people who often work outdoors or like outdoor sports are the main group facing threats.

Hot water with lemon and honey is a good choice

So, if you have symptoms of hypothermia and notice it, can you save yourself? If you are in good condition, how can you help others with hypothermia?

Self-rescue and rescue in case of hypothermia

First, in the first stage and early second stage when the consciousness is relatively clear, the hypothermia can be changed by relying on the body's own heat. At this time, self-rescue requires taking off the wet and cold clothes first, and then entering a relatively dry environment. When you find a shelter, you can start eating and supplement with some high-calorie sugary foods.

One of the treatments for hypothermia

Secondly, if the people around you are suffering from severe hypothermia or even unconscious, you should take relevant rescue measures, such as warming their body temperature with a hot water bottle, drying their body with a dry towel, etc., to get them out of the "wet and cold" environment.

It should be noted that since the situation is quite serious, heating the whole body is actually not effective at this time, and the core parts should be heated. The core parts are generally the neck, armpits and other parts, and hot water bottles can be placed in these parts.

Gradually warm the patient's core

Of course, these remedial measures can only temporarily maintain the vital signs of the person suffering from hypothermia, and medical treatment should be sought later if necessary.

Sun Xu, a doctor at Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, said that for patients with severe hypothermia, they cannot be rewarmed to normal in the wild, and rewarming can only delay death, so they must be transferred to the hospital for treatment immediately.

Be extremely vigilant about hypothermia

In any case, the frequent deaths caused by hypothermia remind us that we need to be extra careful when doing outdoor sports. In addition, if someone likes to drink excessively in winter, they should also be careful not to stay out overnight because of alcohol. Many people die from hypothermia every year.

What do you think about this? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area. Follow CHN Jiuxiang Technology, and through popular science, you will find that there are too many wonderful things in this world.