Oxygen... Hard 10 points?

Question

I have heard that when it is cold out bodies reduce the need for oxygen, why is this? Is oxygen used to cool our body down or something?

Answer 1

The reason is because as our body temperature drops, our metabolism also declines. Metabolism is the process where the body uses oxygen to 'burn' sugars, thus producing energy. Rapid heat loss, like when someone falls through the ice on a frozen lake, will actually protect the brain from oxygen starvation. Because the metabolism also shuts down.  This means someone in this situation, if they are pulled out in time will have less chance of permanent brain damage than someone who almost drowns in warm water.

Answer 2

Oxygen is not used to cool down our body, in fact, when it is cold out, we need more oxygen because when we get cold oxygen bonds more to haemoglobin (red blood cells).  Oxygen is essential to human life - there is almost no situation where our bodies have a reduced need for it.  Also, when it gets cold, our bodies want to provide more oxygen to our vital organs (heart, lungs, brain, kidneys etc), so we try to take in more oxygen.

See the question link below, someone answers a very similar question in great detail if you want more info.

Answer 3

Your body uses oxygen for metabolism, breaking down sugars to harvest the energy from the bonds so your cells can perform their functions.  However, like all chemical reactions, this energy transformation is not 100% efficient and so when we metabolize sugars, heat is also produced.  This is how we keep our bodies warm and why "cold-blooded" animals (like snakes) don't have to eat every day (they don't regulate their internal body heat entirely by metabolism).

So, when it is cold outside, your body needs to release more heat to keep warm, therefore, your oxygen need should be increasing because you have to increase metabolism to increase heat production.  Hibernating animals, however, do slow their metabolisms down dramatically in order to reduce the demand for heat during cold spells and they would be using less oxygen.

Answer 4

I think there may be a context type issue with your question.

When a mammal (animal that regulates its own body temp.) begins to go into hypothermia, the blood vessels etc. begin to constrict to conserve heat. When the hypothermic condition continues, the blood supply can be in the worst cases, completely cut-off to the extremities and some internal organs. With the changes occuring to the normal patterns of blood flow as a result of the body's reaction to extreme cold it is more by the the need to conserve heat that less oxygen is "needed" by the body. When warming a person up, oxygen is a good thing as oxygen is the primary ingredient of most biochemical reactions where heat is a primary product.

Admittedly, it has been a while. I could have this exactly backwards.

Answer 5

there is aerobic respiration and anaerobic respiration. Aerobic requires oxygen while anaerobic respiration does not require oxygen... however, aerobic respiration can produce 36ATP while anaerobic only produce 2ATP. As for the cold weather maybe there is lesser oxygen in the atmosphere or the body does not need oxygen therefore there will be anaerobic respiration will be conducted.

Answer 6

Hello. It is because you cannot get the blood quick enough to your brain. You lose oxygen... Hope that helps. Take care...