What's hypothermia? Why does it occur particularly in babies & older pple? How wud you treat a person with it

Answer 1

This website will tell you everything you need to know!

Answer 2

translated, hypo means low or weak, and thermea means temperature. so combined, they mean low tempurature. hypothermia is a low body temperature. young infants and elderly people are more susseptable to low body temperature because they do not have as much brown fat (their are 2 types of fat in your body, brown acts as insulatoin and as padding, white fat is the fat that is carbohydrate rich) as older children and adults. however, anyone can get it. hypothermia is a sign that your body's core temperature is falling, and you can tell if someone does have hypothermia because they will be acting and moving sluggishly. their body will start to turn to a light blue, because the blood cells are not getting enough oxegen due to the fact that the plasma they are located in is turning into a slush, liminating movement. they will start to act funny (example: if you are out snowmobiling in the forest, they will decide to go to walmart to buy some bubble-gum) and move ant talk slower. their speech will become more and more slurred. eventually, the brain will shut down the cold recepters, causing the person to beleive they are hot, and they will remove their clothing, wich will speed up the process thencefold. soon later, they will die because the brain is not reciving enough oxegen. to help someone with hypothermia, you must SLOWLY warm them up. put them in lukewarm water. anything warmer might cause the blood vessils to burst, causing internal bleeding. when they have returned to a normal color, then dry them off quickly and gently, so you do not damage them. get them wrapped in plankets, and place them by a warm fire. MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE NOT WET! WET CLOTHS AND TOWELS WILL WORSEN THE SITUATION! i beleive that i have answerd all your questions.

Answer 3

Everyone is capable of going hypothermic. Just join the Navy, sail in the N. Atlantic, jump overboard, any season, and count how many minutes you last - probably no more than 15-20.

Answer 4

Its the beginng stages of frezzing to death warm blankets or cool water gradually heated cause if you jump into warm water you will feel as thogh you are being stabbed with millions of needles babys get it cause they cant say I'm friggin cold yet and old folks cause they are thin skined.

Answer 5

HYTHERMIA ICS SAUSED BY BEING OUT IN THE INCLIMIT WEATHER TOO LONG, COLD RAIN SNOW IT SIMPLY MEANS THEY ARE TOO COLD AND CAN DIE FROM IT IF MEDICAL TREATMENT IS NOT ADMINISTERED SOON THE BEST THING TOO DO WOULD BE TRY AND WARM THEM UP WITH A BLANKET OR LUKE WARM WATER MOST IMPORTANT CALL 911 AND GET MEDICAL ATTENTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE , SECONDS SAVE LIVES !

Answer 6

Low temperature. It is due to exposure to low temperature
It happens to vulnerable people.
You treat them by slowly raising their temperature.
i.e not putting them in hot bath.

Answer 7

Hypothermia refers to any condition in which the temperature of a body drops below the level required for normal metabolism and/ or bodily function to take place. In warm-blooded animals, core body temperature is maintained at or near a constant level through biologic homeostasis. When the body is exposed to colder temperatures, however, its internal mechanisms may be unable to replenish the heat that is being lost to the body's surroundings.

Hypothermia is the opposite of Hyperthermia. Because the words sound alike, they are easily confused.
Stages of Hypothermia in humans
Stage 1 - Body temperature drops 1.8 - 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (1-2 Celsius, 1-2 Kelvin) - mild Shivering occurs. Blood vessels in outer extremities contract, lessening heat loss to the outside air. Breathing becomes quick and shallow. Goose bumps form, to raise body hair on end in an attempt to create an insulating layer of air around the body.
Stage 2 - Body temperature drops 3.6 - 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit (2-4 degrees Celsius, 2-4 Kelvin) - Shivering becomes more violent. Surface blood vessels contract further as the body focuses its remaining resources on keeping the vital organs warm. Victim becomes pale. Lips, ears, fingers and toes may become blue.
Stage 3 - Body temperature drops below aprox 32.2 degrees Celsius (90 degrees fahrenheit, 305.2 Kelvin) (normal is 98.6 Farenheit, 37 Celsius, 310 Kelvin). Cellular metabolic processes shut down. Major organs fail. Clinical death occurs.
Note - Because of decreased cellular activity in stage 3 hypothermia, the body will actually take longer to undergo brain death

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Treatment
Treatment for hypothermia involves raising the core body temperature of the victim.

The first aid response to someone experiencing hypothermia, however, must be made with caution.

Do not rub or massage the casualty
Do not give alcohol
Do not give food or drink (this includes warm drinks)
Do not treat any frostbite
Do not allow the body to become vertical
Any of these actions will divert blood from the critical internal organs and may make the situation worse.

What you should do:

Call the emergency services
Get the patient to shelter
If possible, put the patient in a bath with medium-temperature water, with the clothes on; do not do this to an elderly patient as death may occur as the blood flows to the surface of the skin restricting flow to the heart and brain.
Place hot water bottles (wrapped in a cotton sock) in the patient's armpits and between their legs
Monitor the patient and be prepared to give Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.
Remove wet clothing if and only if a dry change is available
If the hypothermia has become severe, notably if the patient is incoherent or unconscious, re-warming must be done by trained professionals. Bystanders should only remove the patient from the cold environment and call emergency services to get advanced medical care as quickly as possible.

Note
Moving a severely hypothermic person can, and most likely will cause ventricular fibrillation (heart attack), so if possible wait for trained emergency workers arrive. If help is over thirty minutes away, move the patient to an area that shelters them from the wind and cover or wrap them in a blanket.

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Hospital treatment
In a hospital, warming is accomplished by external techniques (blankets, warming devices) for mild hypothermia and by more invasive techniques such as warm intravenous fluids or even lavage (washing) of the bladder, stomach, chest and abdominal cavities with warmed fluids for severely hypothermic patients. These patients are at high risk for arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats), and care must be taken to minimize jostling and other disturbances until they have been sufficiently warmed, as these arrhythmias are very difficult to treat while the victim is still cold. An important tenet of treatment is that a person is not dead until they are warm and dead - remarkable stories of recovery after prolonged cardiac arrest have been reported in patients with hypothermia. This is presumably because the low temperature prevents some of the cellular damage that occurs when blood flow and oxygen are lost for an extended period of time.

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Prevention
In air, most heat is lost through the head, so hypothermia can be most effectively prevented by covering the head. Having appropriate clothing for the environment is another important prevention. Fluid-retaining materials like cotton can be a hypothermia risk if the wearer gets sweaty on a cold day, then cools down, they will have sweat soaked clothing in the cold air. For outdoor exercise on a cold day, it is advisable to wear fabrics which can wick away sweat moisture. These include wool or synthetic fabrics designed specifically for rapid drying.

Heat is lost much more quickly in water. Children can die of hypothermia in as little as two hours in water as warm as 61 degrees (16°C), typical of sea surface temperatures in temperate countries such as Great Britain. Many seaside safety information sources fail to quote survival times in water, and the consequent importance of diving suits, possibly because the original research into hypothermia mortality in water was carried out in wartime Germany on unwilling subjects. There is an ongoing debate as to the ethical basis of using the data thus acquired. Information on wetsuits and safety in water can be found here.

There is considerable evidence, however, that children that suffer near-drowning accidents in water near 0°C can be revived up to two hours after losing consciousness. The cold water also considerably lowers metabolism, allowing the brain to withstand a much longer period of hypoxia.

Answer 8

it's when your body tempurature is to low. i would see a doctor

Answer 9

a blanket.