Description

This episode applies everything we’ve learned about cold physiology to real-world case studies, exploring how acute and chronic cold responses play out in practice. We discuss:

• Cold shock response during sudden immersion in icy water.
• Shivering thermogenesis in a stranded mountaineer.
• Chronic adaptations seen in Arctic Indigenous populations.
• Cold acclimatization in winter swimmers.
• Severe hypothermia management for a lost hiker.

These cases illustrate how vasoconstriction, thermogenesis, metabolic shifts, and cold acclimatization all contribute to survival—or failure—when exposed to extreme cold.