Getting cold

[Geddi]

Is hypERthermia and hypOthermia the same thing?
if theyre not whats the difference, from what i know theyre/its bad news. What can one do to protect oneselves?

[Digby]

Hyper means too high, Hypo means too low. If you get too cold, first the body starts using up all the energy that you have stored in your blood stream and muscles and shivering to create heat, then you die. If you get too hot, first you start sweating and panting, then you die.

The primary cause of death when you die from cold is lack of 'fuel' to the brain, though you may also suffer a heart attack. In the case of heat it can either be dehydration (drying out) or in extreme cases when you can't sweat fast enough, your protein denatures (cooks) like the white of an egg when you fry it.

Best to avoid both these if you can.

[Geddi]

Where does frost bite come in to it?

[Oli-picka]

Thats just when your cells actually freeze and pop generally killin goff things like toes

[Digby]

As Oli-pika points out, Frostbite is when the cells of the body get frozen. It is often associated with hypothermia but whereas theoretically you can suffer from hypothermia at temperatures well above freezing, it usually has to be below freezing before frostbite becomes a problem. Because frostbite is usually on the extremities (toes, fingers, nose and ears) you can get it with the body core at normal temperature, but this is unusual. Somebody with frostbite is usually at high risk of hypotheria too.

[Hillwalker]

Take a peek at the other thread, hyopthermia and brandy!