# Coma vs. Hibernation - Can we hibernate humans?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coma-vs-hibernation-can-we-hibernate-humans/826879>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 29, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coma-vs-hibernation-can-we-hibernate-humans/826879 "2018-12-29T18:49:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![komolono](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/komolono/32/532_2.png) [@komolono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/komolono)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coma-vs-hibernation-can-we-hibernate-humans/826879/1 "2018-12-29T18:49:41Z")

</div>

First I want to know how much energy a human needs in coma. Then - for comparison - how much energy a hedgehog, a bear or anything but my PC needs to hibernate. Are there species (like the Polar Bear - I know this is not true) that hibernates at warm temperatures (cidadas) …and you can go on after this…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coma-vs-hibernation-can-we-hibernate-humans/826879/2 "2018-12-29T19:41:29Z")

</div>

[Targeted](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targeted_temperature_management) [hypothermia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_hypothermic_circulatory_arrest) is a real experimental treatment for humans, but it is not continued for months, so energy requirement is not a limiting factor.

Bears can hibernate for months without eating, true, but they need to eat up first since they end up losing 25% of their body mass. Energy required is about 0.09 MJ/kg⋅day to maintain lean muscle mass.