While watching a show called explorations on BBC, i came across this fact: During the Falklands War, 580 personnel were injured, but only four died. Reason why so many survived was that due to mild hypothermia they required less oxygen to survive!!!
The doctors used the same tactic to save a new born kid from dying! The child's brain had started self destructing itself (don't ask me why. I blame Microsoft for it, as they invented multi-tasking π ] and by cooling him down they stopped that reaction which helped save the baby. And yes, the kid is absolutely healthy today!
Cryogenics.... sweeeet.
That's cool. (Literally.)
Bad pun π
Science... isn't it great π
I have heard of cases of cold water drowning where the victim, usually a child, is underwater for a half hour or more and still survives. Sometimes there is some brain damage, sometimes not. They think that the cold water causes them to shut down and not require as much oxygen, allowing them to stay alive longer.
It is standard procedure to cool patients down during open heart surgery to reduce the metabolic rate and give them more time to work.