# Why do many people get very cold before they die? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 2, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357 "2009-10-02T16:08:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diamonds02](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Diamonds02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diamonds02)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/1 "2009-10-02T16:08:30Z")
I’ve read about many near death experiences. Each were quite different, but one thing they had in common was that they were very cold. I was thinking, it was because of blood loss, but I remember some of them did not have any blood loss as they were near death (heart attacks, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/2 "2009-10-02T16:10:48Z")
You’re cold because all of the blood is running out of your body. I hope it was worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/3 "2009-10-02T16:16:25Z")
Bad circulation makes you feel cold regardless of the cause. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/4 "2009-10-02T16:26:56Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > You’re cold because all of the blood is running out of your body. I hope it was worth it. Life sure has a sick sense of humor, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/5 "2009-10-02T16:45:52Z")
I’m glad that wasn’t “need answer fast.” ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/6 "2009-10-02T17:24:47Z")
That’s their soul leaving. Souls are _hawt_. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/7 "2009-10-02T19:55:01Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > Life sure has a sick sense of humor, doesn’t it? This is stimulating, but we’re out of here. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/8 "2009-10-02T23:10:07Z")
The best answer is given by **Harmonious Discord** above. As you die, especially slowly, your heart tends to slow down (among other changes to your circulatory system), so your blood-pressure drops quite a bit. This chills you because warm blood isn’t being properly circulated anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hero_From_Sector_7G)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/9 "2009-10-02T23:28:19Z")
Warm blood? I thought heat was a byproduct of cells oxidizing sugars and fats. Circulation is necessary for providing oxygen receptors… poor circulation and cell respiration fails. Now I’m way confused. Stupid public school failing me. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/10 "2009-10-03T01:42:27Z")
I’m diabetic, and when I screw up and have very low blood glucose, I get all cold and clammy, among other symptoms. Depending on the cause of death, this could be the case. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/11 "2009-10-03T03:48:41Z")
> [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](#): > > Warm blood? > > I thought heat was a byproduct of cells oxidizing sugars and fats. Circulation is necessary for providing oxygen receptors… poor circulation and cell respiration fails. Now I’m way confused. > > Stupid public school failing me. I’m sure it’s a combination. Remember that your body core has the most heat, so blood that circulates through it (ie through your heart and lungs) is going to warm up and carry that heat out to the periphery. Your finger’s cells, for example, aren’t inefficient enough to generate that kind of heat through respiration alone. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/12 "2009-10-03T04:24:42Z")
This ^ The peripheral vascular network shows a deficit when the core pumping slows - the blood doesn’t get out there. ---
**Author:** ![Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hero_From_Sector_7G)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/13 "2009-10-03T20:16:16Z")
> [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](#): > > I’m sure it’s a combination. Remember that your body core has the most heat, so blood that circulates through it (ie through your heart and lungs) is going to warm up and carry that heat out to the periphery. That seems circular to me. If your core is heating your blood, and blood is heating your body, where does heat come from? Other than cell respiration, what mechanism generates heat in the body? I thought blood’s function was to deliver nutrients and oxygen (to act as electron acceptors), not heat. Also, I thought one’s core retained the most heat because it has the least amount of surface area compared to volume. One’s fingers have a huge surface area compared to their volume, and thus lose their heat faster. ---
**Author:** ![Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hero_From_Sector_7G)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/14 "2009-10-03T20:23:34Z")
A little wiki reading reveals that the liver and muscle contractions are responsible for most of the body’s heat. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/15 "2009-10-03T20:32:41Z")
It’s multi-factorial. First, realize that not all dying people feel cold. Some feel warm, some feel neutral, some feel cold. Some feel all 3, at varying times and in different orders. Of those that feel cold, some feel that way from exsanguination. Massive blood loss removes a lot of heat from the body, and as core temperature goes down, one feels cold. Others feel cold due to circulatory collapse. As arms and legs lack perfusion, they get cooler, and send a message saying “we’re cold”. As the brain begins to get underperfused and hypoxic, it can start interpreting input incorrectly, and read the nervous system’s signals of distress as cold. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/16 "2009-10-03T22:50:14Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > It’s multi-factorial. > > First, realize that not all dying people feel cold. Some feel warm, some feel neutral, some feel cold. Some feel all 3, at varying times and in different orders. Some feel a slight “exploding” sensation. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/17 "2009-10-04T02:06:00Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Some feel a slight “exploding” sensation. SPES. Sudden Premorbid Explosion Syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![Diamonds02](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Diamonds02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diamonds02)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-get-very-cold-before-they-die/512357/18 "2009-10-05T01:45:47Z")
Thanks for the answers. Hmmm…the SPES, maybe that was something I didn’t want to know about. 🙂