SATURDAY, Jan. 31, 2009 (HealthDay News) -- Older people often focus their wintertime worries on fears of slipping on the ice, but they ought to be equally concerned about the risks of being too cold, advises the U.S. National Institute on Aging.
The ability to endure lengthy exposure to the cold lessens as people age, putting the elderly at a greater risk for hypothermia -- the condition in which body temperature falls below normal and stays there for a prolonged period of time.
Certain medical conditions, medicines and a sedentary lifestyle can make older people extra vulnerable even to mild cold snaps.
But there are steps older adults can take to prevent hypothermia, including:
People with hypothermia tend to act confused, slow or sleepy, have slowed or slurred speech and might shiver or have stiffness in the limbs. If you suspect someone has hypothermia, take the person's temperature, and if it is 96 degrees or lower, call 911.
Cold temperatures resulted in more than 6,000 hospitalizations and 827 deaths in 2006, according to the latest figures the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The group's analysis of 6,182 cold weather-related hospitalizations found that:
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about hypothermia.