Can one get brain damage from hypothermia, or will the cold protect the brain?

From the earliest days of surgery; doctors recognize that hypothermia or cooling the patient down below nomal body temperature had a beneficial effect on both protecting the various organs and minimizing pain.


Profound hypothermia or cooling the body down to between 80.6 and 86 degrees F had been used in cardiac surgery for decades. Bleeding and pain is minimized. that's why a lot of OR are kept very cold. Researchers discovered that moderate hypothermia; just a few degrees below normal body temp could protect the brain in strokes and head injuries.


Traditional explanation was that cooling protected the body by reducing the metabolic rate . It also can reduce inflammation, swelling and irritation after an acute injury in brain and spinal cord injuries;


Hypothermia is preventative, protectitive, and reparative in cases of cental nervous injuries. It protects the brain by inhibiting the release of potentially damaging chemicals called excitotoxic neurotoxins for brain cells. In cases of cerebral ischemia, where oxygen doesn't reach the brain, it prevents further damage of the brain cells.


I'm a critical care nurse . When we take care of patients who sustain severe head injuries, it's a standard protocol to keep their bodies cool by using the hypothermia or cooling blanket. High body temperatures such as fever would certainly cause more cerebral damage ; swelling and hemorrhage. The use of barbiturates is not uncommon to reduce the metabolic rate or energy level necessary to maintain organ function.

no intense cold will shut down the brain which can cause brain damage

Keep in mind, however, that this cooling should only be done in controlled hosptial settings. Cooling the brain restricts blood flow which is necessary to deliver oxygen to the brain cells! If brain cells are starved of oxygen, they will die.

There doesn't seem claims that it could cause brain damage.
The treatment is only to lower the body temperature under very controlled conditions. You should not worry about brain damage since it is only done for a short period of time, enough for the brain to keep functioning normally without any damage.