Question

A person stuck in a snow storm suffers from hypothermia, while a person lost in a desert experiences hyperthermia. What do these conditions mean and what mechanisms would the body use to correct these conditions.

Answer 1

Answer:

See the answer below

Explanation:

Hypothermia is a condition in which the body of an individual experiences abnormally low temperature while hyperthermia is a direct opposite, that is, a condition in which the body of an individual experience abnormally high temeprature.

In hypothermia, the body loses heat at a faster rate than it is producing, resulting in a net temperature loss and abnormally low body temperature. Whereas, in hyperthermia, the body gains heat at a faster rate than it loses to the environment which results in abnormally high body temeprature.

The body naturally tries to deal with hypothermal by sending merve impulses to muscles. By doing so, the muscles of the body begin to vibrate in order to generate extra heat to keep the body at normal temperature. In addition, the blood vessels that transport blood to the skin also experiences vasoconstriction, they reduction in the diameter to limit blood flow to the skin in order to limit heat loss. Instead, the flow of warm blood to internal organs is increased in order to compesate for the drop in body temperature.

Hyperthermia is dealt with by increasing blood flow to the skin through vasodilation of the blood vessels responsible for carrying blood to the skin. The increased blood supply leads to more sweat emanating from the skin whose evaporation causes cooling of the skin. By so doing, the body temeprature can be brought back to the normal level.