Cold shock response

Cold shock response is a series of neurogenic cardio-respiratory responses caused by sudden immersion in cold water. In cold water immersions, such as by falling through thin ice, cold shock response is perhaps the most common cause of death. Also, the abrupt contact with very cold water may cause involuntary inhalation, which, if underwater, can result in fatal drowning. Death which occurs in such scenarios is complex to investigate and there are several possible causes and phenomena that can take part. The cold water can cause heart attack due to severe vasoconstriction, where the heart has to work harder to pump the same volume of blood throughout the arteries. For people with pre-existing cardiovascular disease, the additional workload can result in myocardial infarction and/or acute heart failure, which ultimately may lead to a cardiac arrest. A vagal response to an extreme stimulus as this one, may, in very rare cases, render per se a cardiac arrest. 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. Gasp reflex and uncontrollable tachypnea can severely increase the risk of water inhalation and drowning. Some people are much better prepared to survive sudden exposure to very cold water due to body and mental characteristics and due to conditioning. In fact, cold water swimming (also known as ice swimming or winter swimming) is a sport and an activity that reportedly can lead to several health benefits when done regularly. The physiological response to a sudden immersion in cold water may be divided in three or four discrete stages, with different risks and physiological changes, all being part of an entity labelled as Cold Water Immersion Syndrome.

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Hypothermia

Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe hypothermia, there may be hallucinations and paradoxical undressing, in which a person removes their clothing, as well as an increased risk of the heart stopping. Hypothermia has two main types of causes. It classically occurs from exposure to cold weather and cold water immersion.

Negative Feedback: Body Temperature Regulation ME-323: Chemical process control

Explores negative feedback in body temperature regulation and how it maintains core temperature around 37°C.

Clinical detection of 'cold stress' is overlooked: an online survey of healthcare workers to explore the gap in neonatal thermal care in low-resource settings

Background Neonatal hypothermia has been widely regarded as a major contributory factor to neonatal mortality and morbidity in low-resource settings. The high prevalence of potentially preventable hypothermia today urges an investigation into why neonates ...

BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP2022

Metabolism is a highly coordinated biochemical cellular activity indispensable for sustaining life, and is often related to mitochondrial functioning. Innovative technological approaches allowing the study of the thermal signature of chemical and metabolic ...

EPFL2016

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We report on in vivo temperature measurements performed in mice at two specific sites of interest in the animal body over a period of several hours. In particular, the aim of this work was to monitor mouse metabolism during cold exposure, and to record pos ...

Springer Verlag2015