Why do people take their clothes off when they are about to freeze to death?

Why in a cold environment, do people act paradoxically to undress?

In fact, this is a very "paradoxical" phenomenon that has been noted by science. It is called Hypothermia Undressing .

If anyone has ever seen the movie Everest in 2015, you will find that there is a very strange scene: when the character Andy is trapped on a cold mountain top and is at risk of death, he . takes off. all my clothes. This is an example of Hypothermia Undressing.

This happens when the body temperature is dangerously low (below 35 degrees Celsius) , the victim will suddenly take off all his clothes, while what they need to do is the exact opposite. In fact, rescue teams around the world have recorded many similar cases, when the victims were frozen in the absence of a cloth, or very little clothes.

Victims freeze freeze phenomenon of undressing on people.(Artwork).

Initially, police considered such deaths as murder, but most could not find the culprit. It was not until the scientists came out that the mystery was revealed with 2 common hypotheses as follows:

The first hypothesis is that this phenomenon is a consequence of peripheral vasospasm. In the bone-chilling cold, the body shrinks blood vessels in the extremities to gather blood to the body, in order to keep the internal organs' temperature as high as possible. Thanks to this mechanism, vital organs such as the brain, lungs . will be less vulnerable to cold air, and thus the ability to survive will be higher.

But when it reaches a point where the body can no longer resist, the muscle fibers will expand, causing the blood vessels to open again as they were. A large amount of blood flows from the main body to the limbs and makes the victim feel suddenly hot. Experts believe that it was this instant sensation that caused the victims to take off their clothes, and eventually died from heat loss.

The second hypothesis relates to the brain , suggesting that low temperatures disrupt the function of the hypothalamus - the center for regulating body temperature. When the body temperature drops too low, the hypothalamus sends a deadly false signal to the whole body that "It's very hot here" - when it is not.

However, it all stopped at the hypothesis, because Hypothermia Undressing often comes with another equally strange phenomenon: Victims bury themselves in the snow or get into narrow places like cars' cars. small rock crevices. Deaths in the house hide in the closet, under the drawers .

No conclusions have been completely plausible and convincing for this strange phenomenon. The scientific community will continue to search and the answer will surely appear in the nearest day.