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When resulting from blood loss, trauma is the most common root cause, but severe blood loss can also happen in various body systems without clear traumatic injury. [3] The body in hypovolemic shock prioritizes getting oxygen to the brain and heart, which reduces blood flow to nonvital organs and extremities, causing them to grow cold, look ...
Alcohol also affects the temperature-regulating system in the brain, decreasing the body's ability to shiver and use energy that would normally aid the body in generating heat. [33] The overall effects of alcohol lead to a decrease in body temperature and a decreased ability to generate body heat in response to cold environments. [34]
Hypothermia appears to have multiple effects at a cellular level following cerebral injury. Hypothermia reduces vasogenic oedema, haemorrhage and neutrophil infiltration after trauma. [31] The release of excitatory neurotransmitters is reduced, limiting intracellular calcium accumulation.
Targeted temperature management (TTM), previously known as therapeutic hypothermia or protective hypothermia, is an active treatment that tries to achieve and maintain a specific body temperature in a person for a specific duration of time in an effort to improve health outcomes during recovery after a period of stopped blood flow to the brain. [1]
Those affected report loss of sensation in affected skin for at least 30 minutes and abnormal sensation when experiencing rewarming. [4] The use of imaging or lab testing specific to nonfreezing cold injury is not helpful for confirming the diagnosis. [4] Imaging may be indicated to work up possible trauma or infection. [4]
The use of hypothermia for medical purposes dates back to Hippocrates, who advocated packing snow and ice into wounds to reduce hemorrhage. The origin of hypothermia and neuroprotection was also observed in infants who were exposed to cold due to abandonment and the prolonged viability of these infants. [8]
Hypothermia and extreme stress can both precipitate fatal tachyarrhythmias. A more modern view suggests that an autonomic conflict – sympathetic (due to stress) and parasympathetic (due to the diving reflex) coactivation – may be responsible for some cold water immersion deaths.
Neurogenic shock is a distributive type of shock resulting in hypotension (low blood pressure), often with bradycardia (slowed heart rate), caused by disruption of autonomic nervous system pathways. [1] It can occur after damage to the central nervous system, such as spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury.