Which of the following does not increase the susceptibility of the elderly to hypothermia?
ExplanationAs body temperature falls, the blood flow to the skin is reduced (vasoconstriction) to mitigate against further heat loss and the heat generated from muscles is increased (shivering). Both of these counter-regulatory mechanisms and, indeed, detection of a falling environmental temperature are impaired with increasing age. In addition, environmental modification (central heating, putting on additional layers) may be reduced. It remains controversial whether the elderly do tend to have a lower core body temperature. However, it seems increasingly likely that any observable difference is due to confounding factors (changes in BMI, lean muscle mass, environmental temperature) than an inherent difference in the ‘thermostat’ setting
