Medic non-political

[windriverrange]

So am on the last few days of business trip #1 for the year in Australia. Their TV choices suck at the hotels but one of the cooler shows is "Bondi Beach Rescue," which I have watched quite a bit of. Turns out they had to rescue a guy and then revive him because he is allergic to cold water and when he went into the water he went into anaphylactic shock then quit breathing. Ever heard of anything like that? They gave the term for that malady, but didn't catch it......

 

[JimmyBob]

They gave the term for that malady, but didn't catch it......

In Creek County, it's called drunk and pond swimming in winter.

 

[Medic007]

Yeah, it's called cold urticaria. Pretty rare. It affects people that have a hypersensitivity to sudden decreases in temperature. Usually the reaction is localized to exposed skin. They'll get hives and itch like crazy. The anaphylactic reaction can occur with sudden exposure of most of the body. Basically the localized reaction is so large it becomes systemic and it will be anaphylaxis just like any other anaphylactic reactions. People have died from it.

Treatment is the same as anaphylaxis if you can actually figure out what it is. Recognizing it in someone who can't tell you their history would be really challenging. @BIGOSUFAN might see some of this in his neck of the woods. I've only read about it.

 

[BIGOSUFAN]

Its pretty rare. A study in (Germany) estimated the incidence at 0.05 among white Europeans. Swimming is the most common cause of the systemic reaction although interestingly enough these folks can have it induced by cold food/drink which can cause angioedema in the esophagus and leaf to death by suffocation. In folks who know they have it, you can do testing and establish what the temperature threshold is for it to kick in and then they can avoid swimming in water colder than that. Prophylactic anti-histamine usage can reduce the intensity of the reactions. And obviously they should always carry an Epi pen.

 

[Medic007]

Its pretty rare. A study in (Germany) estimated the incidence at 0.05 among white Europeans. Swimming is the most common cause of the systemic reaction although interestingly enough these folks can have it induced by cold food/drink which can cause angioedema in the esophagus and leaf to death by suffocation. In folks who know they have it, you can do testing and establish what the temperature threshold is for it to kick in and then they can avoid swimming in water colder than that. Prophylactic anti-histamine usage can reduce the intensity of the reactions. And obviously they should always carry an Epi pen.

Thanks for the response. Definitely rare. And strange. My wife has dermatographia which is weird enough. She takes 20 mg of cetirizine a day to keep it managed.

 

[imprimis]

Wow, 20 mg of Zyrtec daily is double the normal dose. I was eating that stuff 2 weekends ago fighting mountain cedar pollen. Can't imagine doing that daily although dealing with the rashes would be worse. Poor girl.

 

[windriverrange]

Thanks for the info @Medic007 and @BIGOSUFAN, very interesting stuff.