Bone-Numbing Cold Could Take Toll On The Body
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - With wind chills in the minus-teens, anyone who is exposed to these frigid conditions risks developing frostbite or hypothermia.
Dina Al-Joburi, an emergency room resident at Hahnemann University Hospital, says in this cold weather, ER doctors need to be alert, because hypothermia symptoms can be deceiving -- symptoms such as ataxia, which is a lack of muscle coordination:
"With the slurred speech and the ataxia, automatically we would normally think stroke. Now, we're going to be thinking core body temperatures. We're definitely going to be quick to get a thermometer in our patients right away."
She says your body works harder and begins to preserve itself in conditions like this:
"That's why places like your fingertip and your nose are more commonly injured when it gets cold, cause your blood's shunting away from that to go to your brain."
Al-Joburi says anyone outside for any length of time -- especially diabetics -- should check their extremities for discoloration that could indicate frostbite.
She adds frostbite or hypothermia can happen in as little as 30 minutes, so it's imperative you stay covered in layers.