Hypothermia: an easy-to-miss, dangerous disorder in winter weather

A variety of age-related physiologic factors and disease states predispose older patients to hypothermia. These include a decreased ability to produce heat, malnutrition, medications, infections, and social factors such as isolation and poverty. The subtle clinical signs and symptoms of mild hypothermia may mimic cognitive decline, cerebral vascular accident, hypothyroidism, or myxedema coma. The challenge for the physician is to clinically recognize hypothermia and provide prompt diagnosis and treatment. Medical management of the older patient with moderate to severe hypothermia requires in-hospital intensive care, as life-threatening conditions may arise during stabilization and resuscitation.