Get to know the key facts
Cold can be harmful to health. Indeed, winter brings with it a host of potential ailments. Some are easy to deal with, while others can be lethal.
Windburn can make your skin red, dry, and itchy. It may even cause it to swell and heat up. Prevent windburn by covering your skin, especially face and hands.
The human body is able to adapt to a drop in temperature remarkably well, and there are precautions we can take to limit the effects of plunging mercury. But how cold is too cold?
Anyone whose body temperature drops below 24°C (75.2°F) is experiencing fourth stage hypothermia, and death is apparent.
Strong, blizzard-like winds can test your balance, and make it even harder to stand upright on ice.
Another very real danger of exposure to cold weather is frostbite. This is a condition where injury is caused by freezing of the skin and underlying tissue. Frostbite is most common on the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks, and chin.
Hypothermia can develop in as little as five minutes in temperatures of just 10°C (50°F) if head, ears, nose, and hands are exposed.
Normal body temperature is around 37°C (98.6°F). Hypothermia occurs as your body temperature falls below 35°C (95°F).
Frostbite occurs in three stages. Frostnip is early, reversible cold-weather damage to the skin that while cold, numb, and red remains pliable and can be treated with first-aid measures, including rewarming the affected skin.
Superficial frostbite still sounds innocuous enough, but heed the warning signs. At this stage the skin appears reddened before turning white or pale, and warm—the first ominous indicator of serious skin damage.
Besides the difficulty in maintaining your balance on an icy sidewalk, venturing out in an extremely cold environment can increase your chances of a heart attack. Your heart has to work harder to circulate your blood. Those with cardiovascular issues should be aware of the heightened risks associated with the effort required to stay mobile and warm.
It's a sad fact of life that many of us live in homes that are hard to heat. Surviving a particular harsh winter even indoors can be a challenging prospect, and can also induce hypothermia.
In fact, avoid taking youngsters outside in wintry conditions if the temperature is below -10°C (15°F). It's just too cold for little ones, and the hypothermia or frost bite risk is unacceptably high.
Sources: (Centers for Disease Control and Protection) (American Lung Association) (NHS) (AccuWeather) (American Heart Association) (What to Expect)
See also: Tips for people who are always cold
As the condition progresses, all layers of the skin are affected. The skin by now has turned a bluish-white or grayish-yellow. Numbness sets in, and you lose all sensation of cold, pain, or discomfort in the affected area. In time, blisters will appear on the frostbitten skin. Finally, the skin turns black as its cells die from freezing. Amputation of the stricken body part is usually the only treatment left available.
As previously mentioned, frost bite is the major risk to ears exposed to sub-zero temperatures, especially if wind chill is taken into consideration. Cold temperatures can actually cause physical changes in the ear that can lead to pain, dizziness, ringing in the ears, and in extreme cases, even hearing loss.
Bone-chilling temperatures can cause the blood vessels in our eyes to constrict and even freeze the cornea. This is a painful condition and may impair vision. To lessen the risk, use eye drops, blink more often, or wear glasses.
Extremities like the nose often fall victim to even mild hypothermia. This thermal image illustrates why. The nose (shown in cooler blue), like hands, feet, and ears, receives a limited flow of blood compared with, say, the stomach or chest. This means it's likely to feel the cold first when temperatures dip. The fact that it's composed mostly of cartilage rather than fat means the nose is also less insulated.
Similarly, hands are usually first to get cold in sub-zero temperatures. Again, the thermal image here shows how the fingers remain bereft of adequate blood flow, the result of it being redirected to more vital internal organs.
Cold air can cause wheezing and shortness of breath because it's typically dry and irritates the lungs. People with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or bronchitis are especially at risk, and particularly the elderly with such conditions.
There are five stages of hypothermia. In its mildest form, the body begins to shiver, though normal or near normal consciousness is maintained. Moderate hypothermia kicks in as shivering stops and consciousness is impaired.
Warning signs that a toddler is developing hypothermia include intense shivering, clumsiness, disorientation, and slurring of words.
Exposure to high winds in cold temperatures and low humidity can put you at risk of windburn, which occurs when your skin loses its natural oils.
Sub-zero temperatures form ice—which means more chances of falling and getting injured. Slippery outside conditions present a hazard to everybody, particular the elderly. But even the fittest of individuals can fall foul to an icy sidewalk or a set of steps.
Few survive fifth stage hypothermia. Death occurs as the body shuts down, either due to lethal internal injury or by freezing.
Prolonged exposure to sub-zero temperatures can lead to hypothermia, a condition whereby the body loses heat faster than it can produce it.
Winter air is often quite dry, and can draw the moisture out of your body, resulting in dry skin and mucous membranes.
Exposure to cold air can induce chilblains, the painful inflammation of small blood vessels in your skin that can cause itching, red patches, swelling, and blistering on your hands and feet.
Cold weather brings with it a whole host of potential ailments, anything from the common cold to trauma caused by slipping on ice. But sub-zero temperatures and freezing winds can also be lethal, when medical conditions including hypothermia and frost bite can easily endanger life.
Click through and find out the damaging effects of extreme cold on the human body.
The effects of cold on the human body
What to look out for in freezing weather
HEALTH Climate
Cold weather brings with it a whole host of potential ailments, anything from the common cold to trauma caused by slipping on ice. But sub-zero temperatures and freezing winds can also be lethal, when medical conditions including hypothermia and frost bite can easily endanger life.
Click through and find out the damaging effects of extreme cold on the human body.