Causes of hypothermia

Introduction

Hypothermia is a condition when one's body is unable to produce enough heat because of the outside cold factors. It usually takes place due to excessive exposure to cold weather or cold surroundings. After spending too much time in those one's body stops functioning correctly because of the inability of heating due to the low temperatures.

Causes and Reasons

There are numerous causes which contribute to hypothermia. Wearing inadequate clothes is one of them. Namely, wearing clothes which are not warm enough to stand for the extremely cold weather you are exposed to may lead to this condition. Moreover, if the clothes get wet and are not changed for a longer period spent in the above mentioned environment, hypothermia is bound to strike.

However, one does not have to be a mountain climber, a speedboat driver or to live in an igloo in order to get hypothermia. Rather, a dysfunctional air-conditioner, or radiator may be enough, especially when it comes to infants and the elderly.

As far as reasons behind this condition are concerned, they all come down to the loss of heat. Unprotected surfaces of our body leave way for heat loss and we are not even aware how much heat can be saved while protecting and warming up our head. Additionally, through direct contact with cold water, cold breeze or any other factor, natural or not, one loses body heat significantly and with speed.

Additional Reasons Behind Hypothermia

As mentioned above, both small children and old people are endangered groups. Mainly because their organisms cannot cope with the cold as well as healthy adult's can, as well as the age factor with the old, or the disobedience when it comes to wearing enough clothes with the young, these two have to pay special attention when exposed to low temperatures.

Alcoholics are another endangered group. Alcohol, although claimed to warm the body, widens the blood vessels, making one's body lose heat faster. Also, people heavily indulging themselves in alcoholic beverages are prone to losing consciousness while outside. This fact, combined with the external cold weather situations, speak for themselves when it comes to hypothermia.

Those who suffer from serious mental conditions may not be able to rationally perceive the necessity of warm clothes and cold protecting in general thus adding to the list of people in danger of this condition. Also, people with certain severe medical conditions and illnesses may have trouble in regulating their body temperature. Finally some specific types of medications may alter the heating capabilities of one's body, so one must be careful and not expose him or herself to excessive cold while using those.