Anatomy & Physiology Fun Facts

Controlled Hypothermia
Hypothermia: clinical term for an abnormally low body temperature
 * Controlled hypothermia: clinically induced hypothermia performed in order to reduce metabolic rate of an organ or a person's entire body
 * often used during open-heart surgery to decrease metabolic rate or various organs, reducing risk of damage to them
 * medication prevents shivering
 * heart stopped, external heart-lung pump maintains circulation

Decompression Sickness
Decompression sickness (DCS): condition in which gases dissolved in the blood or in other body tissues are no longer dissolved following a reduction in pressure on the body
 * affects divers who surface too quickly or pilots flying at high altitudes in unpressurized cabins
 * AKA the bends
 * nitrogen bubbles out of solution
 * symptoms include arthralgia
 * headache and vision disturbances in 10-15%
 * can result in death
 * treat with pure oxygen and hyperbaric chamber