This body temperature lowering, cooling or therapeutic hypothermia treatment is not exactly cryonics, but IMO a promising technique in the direction of hibernation and suspended animation.
from The Sun and Fox News:
Links:Doctors save newborn’s life by wrapping her in ice for 3 days
Published May 06, 2013
Lily Cracknell’s life was saved when doctors put her in a cooling bag after she was born.
She was battling to breathe for 30 minutes after her mother Rebecca Hasler gave birth — before doctors decided she needed to cool down.
Lily was placed in the cool bag for three days as her core body temperature was lowered from 98 degrees Fahrenheit (37°C) to 95.9 degrees F (35.5°C).
The chilling treatment was needed to stop her brain swelling, which could have killed her.
Lily, who weighed 5 pounds, 13 ounces, was slowly warmed up and started to recover.
“Doctors said it was a miracle she pulled through,” said Hasler, 23. “She looked so small and helpless lying there in her cool bag. But we knew it was her only chance of survival.”
Hasler, who lives in Harlow, Essex, was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia when she was 36 weeks pregnant.
She was taken for an immediate induced labour at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow.
The 30 minutes Lily struggled for breath after birth left her brain starved of oxygen and likely to swell.
So she was rushed to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge for the specialist cooling treatment.
After two weeks she was allowed home.
Lily, who will be three in August, is still small for her age, but has made a strong recovery.
Rebecca said: “She may be tiny but she’s a fighter. When we tell people that Lily was put in a cool bag, they can’t believe it.
“Lily had a difficult start to life, but she is really making up for it now. She’s boisterous and full of mischief.
“We’re so grateful to the doctors for saving her.”
myView
By CAROL COOPER, Sun Doctor
NORMAL body temperature is 37°C. The snag is the body uses a lot of energy at this temperature.
When breathing stops, the body is starved of oxygen. The brain is the most vulnerable part because its needs are so great.
In therapeutic hypothermia, the body is cooled to slow down the normal rate of metabolism. This can allow it to recover. Lily wasn’t frozen, just cooled.
http://www.foxnews.c...ice-for-3-days/
http://www.thesun.co...three-days.html
Therapeutic hypothermia, description from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia....tic_hypothermia
