hi, today my father experienced a new thing...his body temperature goes down to 95F. then i put some blanket and make the room warm. then i gave egg white in half cup of milk,which increases his temp upto 96.2,its maintained on this level. his sugar level was 400 at that time...wat wud u say abt this condition? the city where we live is cold nowadays, its one below freezing point here today.. Kindly tell me why it happened and what type of cure can i give to him to maintain his body temperature in normal ranges.????
It is more difficult for our elders to maintain their body temperature. He needs to be kept well-clothed in a warmer room than perhaps he needed as a younger man. This is a natural result of aging. (Children are also more vulnerable to the cold.) Making sure that he stays bundled up in warm clothes and perhaps a blanket -- and the room is well-heated -- until the weather warms, will be very important. Drinking warm broth, tea, soup, etc. through the day also helps us maintain our core body temperature. He may also need his thyroid checked -- my body temperature went quite low when my thyroid went bad. I felt like I had ice in my bones until I started thyroid medication.
"The elderly are especially vulnerable to cold weather, say medical experts and senior citizen advocates, who recommend that family and friends make regular checks on older people.
"Elderly people and the very young are particularly susceptible to hypothermia because their immune systems are not as good, and they tend to not have the built-in insulation that other people do," said Dr. Larry Jones, director of the burn center at Western Pennsylvania Hospital in Bloomfield.
Older people who are confused because of senility, dementia or medications can be susceptible to hypothermia because they might not realize they are not properly dressed for cold weather, Jones said, who has treated people for frostbite.
Hypothermia occurs when the body's core temperature dips from its average normal temperature of 98.6 degrees to 95 degrees or less. In extreme cases, hypothermia can cause the heart to stop beating, Jones said."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_609244.html#ixzz1n4MocNDt
I am concerned for your father, but also fascinated by your post. Certainly, the elderly are prone to hypothermia when their external temperature drops. However some species of animals that develop a form of type 2 diabetes in captivity also have a tendency to hypothermia, suggesting a link. In principle if sugar cannot be 'burned' because of a relative lack of insulin, body temperature might be expected to fall. In humans, it is difficult to prove this link. Many years ago, I tried....and failed. Certainly, keeping your father and his environment warm would be the main objective during the winter - and probably all that you can do. In theory, keeping blood sugar level more normal might help, but then again could risk hypoglycemia.
I have been having low body temperatures over the last year. My body temperature has at times dropped as low as 93 deg F in the morning. I initially thought I might have a thyroid problem, hypothyroidismcan cause a low body temperature. But all the tests came back negative.
The hypothesis that my doctors currently have is that my sleep apnea has been causing my metabolism to drop. I have been working to treat my apnea since October, but I still routine experience body temperatures down into the 94s.
It is also true that long term poorly controlled diabetics can suffer a complication called autonomic neuropathy which can result in poor body temperature control. Sadly, this may be what is causing your father's problems. A blood sugar of 400 mg/dl is very high and a far out of normal range. I believe your father in on insulin, a blood sugar in this range suggests that your fathers insulin needs to be adjusted. You should consult with a doctor to make appropriate adjustments to bring your father's blood sugar down into a normal range.