Don't Let This Week's Deep Freeze Kill You
Thanks to Lucy sleeping on her chest, Pamela survived...
The 72-year-old Pamela was hiking with her 82-year-old husband John in the woods near their home in Maine.
They got lost. And neither John nor Pamela had their cellphones on them.
Then John fell and couldn't get up. So Pamela set off to find help, with their black Labrador retriever, Lucy, that had been accompanying the couple.
She and Lucy couldn't find their way out of the woods. For four days, the duo wandered in the cold rain and below-freezing temperatures.
Sadly, John didn't make it. But rescuers found Pamela alive, thanks to Lucy who had slept on her chest to keep her warm. And upon her rescue, her body temperature clocked in at only 90.7 degrees Fahrenheit, making her severely hypothermic. (Hypothermia is an extreme drop in your core body temperature below 95 degrees Fahrenheit.)
Last week, we looked at how to defend yourself from the hazards of winter, whether it's being safe on the road, avoiding slipping and falling, or shoveling snow.
Today, we're taking on the cold...
Right now, much of the U.S. is in the grips of frigid temperatures. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data taken from death certificates, deaths due to extreme cold are double that of heat-related deaths in the U.S. A 2021 Lancet Planetary Health study found that globally, cold temperatures lead to more deaths than hot temperatures.
Prolonged exposure to extreme cold becomes tougher to tolerate as we age, due to several bodily changes...
Between the ages of 20 and 60, the rate at which our body burns calories, or our metabolic rate, remains stable for the most part. But it's at age 60 when that rate begins to drop by nearly 1% each year. So once we hit age 90, our metabolic rate is roughly 26% lower than when we were in our 40s.
The thing is, metabolic rate also translates to your body's ability to churn out heat. So a lower metabolism often means a lower core body temperature and greater cold intolerance.
One big reason for this metabolic drop is muscle loss that comes with aging. Muscle tissue is high in metabolic activity, even when your body is at rest. But we start losing muscle as early as age 30... and that rate of decay really picks up more speed starting in our 60s.
Along with less muscle and lower metabolism, aging leads to thinning of the fat layer under your skin. That fat insulates you, helping you to retain body heat. Older folks also lose some elasticity in their blood vessels. That leads to poor circulation of blood to deliver warmth to all parts of your body.
Circulation issues are also a main feature of cardiovascular disease. And our risk of developing heart and vascular problems jumps once we hit our 40s and 50s.
Other health issues commonly afflicting the elderly include...
- Kidney disease: These organs clean your blood, and kidney problems can lead to a buildup of waste in your blood, which leaves you feeling cold more easily. Kidney disease can also lead to anemia, where you don't produce enough red blood cells, which carry oxygen.
- Hypothyroidism: This is when you have an underactive thyroid gland. Poor thyroid hormone production will slow down your metabolism.
- Diabetes: Uncontrolled high blood sugar levels damage your blood vessels, leading to poor circulation.
- Arthritis: If it's severe enough to hinder your mobility, you might have trouble moving your body out of the cold or getting up to grab a blanket or sweater.
- Cognitive impairment: You might forget to dress warmly due to poor memory and judgment.
All of these can lead to hypothermia. Symptoms to watch out for include:
- Ice-cold extremities (like fingers and toes)
- Pale, dry skin
- Slurred speech
- Confusion, memory loss, drowsiness, and problems walking
- Weakness
- Shivering and shaking (which may stop in cases of severe hypothermia)
That confusion can especially be deadly since it can prevent you from getting the help you need.
An easy way to combat hypothermia is by prevention. And the acronym COLD is an easy way to remember how. It stands for "Cover," "Overexertion," "Layer," and "Dry"...
- Cover your body with winter-appropriate outerwear, mittens, a hat, and a scarf.
- Overexerting yourself can lead to sweating, which you should avoid. It causes your body to go into cooldown mode, and the sweat on your skin uses your body heat to evaporate.
- Layering is key, since the air "pockets" between each layer of clothing traps heat. You also want to wear an inner layer (like a merino base layer) that wicks away sweat. Follow that with a warm, fleece- or down-insulated mid-layer. And then top it all off with waterproof outerwear (more on that below).
- Dry clothing is important since, like sweat on your skin, moisture in wet clothing also uses up your body heat to turn into vapor.
Other ways to avoid hypothermia include...
- Checking the forecast, since extra-windy winter days add wind chill which can worsen the effects of the cold.
- Wearing a waterproof coat if you think you could be caught in freezing rain. "Water resistant" outerwear means the coat can withstand moisture for a limited time.
- Making sure your phone is charged (or taking along an external battery pack) before venturing out, and letting a friend or family member know if you'll be stepping outside for an extended period of time.
What are some of your favorite ways to combat the cold? Shoot us a message at feedback@healthandwealthbulletin.com.
What We're Reading...
- Something different: PFAS bans are coming for clothing.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
January 21, 2025
P.S. Age-related muscle loss (or sarcopenia) doesn't just make you feel colder... It can lead to a deadly condition called frailty. This is where multiple body systems start failing on you, leaving you wide open to terrible outcomes like falls, injury, disability, hospitalization, and early death.
But one way to defeat frailty is by regularly moving your body to build muscle. And I shared my No. 1 exercise move in this issue of Retirement Millionaire. You can check it out with a trial subscription right here.