Why do they urinate black? How long can a human live without food?

Everyone is talking about it. Snow Society It has been on Netflix for a few days and according to data provided by the platform itself, it is the most watched in the world. Directed and written by Juan Antonio Bayona and based on the book by Pablo Vierci, it depicts the tragedy that took place in 1972, when a flight from Uruguay crashed into a glacier in the Andes. Only 29 of the 45 passengers on board the plane survived the crash and had to fight for their lives in extreme circumstances.

This film would go well in many medical classrooms. The narrator, under a beautiful white landscape, initially wonders: What happens when you don’t Ten Clothes and you are freezing? When not to Ten Food and you are dying? To which one might add: What are the limits of the human body?

We try to answer the question with the help of a doctor Juan Gonzalez Soler,President of the Galician Society of Internal Medicine (SOGAMI) and Spokesperson of the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI).

Effect of cold on the body

The ship was chartered by the rugby team, their family and friends. It was supposed to come to Chile, but it never did. He suffered an accident in the Andes mountain range in a valley 4000 meters above sea level. The weather conditions did not help: there was snow that had not been seen for decades, the temperature was about 40 degrees below zero.

At first, they made warm clothes from the remaining seats. But still, severe cold always has consequences for health. Prolonged exposure can cause tissue damage, respiratory and heart problems, neurological disorders and dehydration, doctors say. Tissue damage occurs primarily in exposed extremities such as hands or feet. This can cause the skin and underlying tissues to freeze, resulting in blisters, ulcers, or even the need for amputation in severe cases.

Hypothermia can affect the body’s ability to maintain adequate breathing. As the body temperature drops, the respiratory muscles may weaken, causing shortness of breath. This, in extreme cases, can lead to respiratory failure and death. It causes a drop in heart rate and blood pressure, which can lead to cardiac arrhythmias, reduced blood flow and, in severe cases, cardiac arrestEmphasis on the doctor.

You can also see confusion, difficulty speaking, lack of coordination and mood swings in the protagonist of the film. These are some of the consequences that can appear at the neurological level that, in severe cases, can lead to coma or irreversible brain damage, according to Gonzalez.

Three minutes without breathing, three days without drinking and three weeks without eating.

How long can we last like this? asks one of them. To which another answers: you know The rule of three? Three minutes without breathing, three days without drinking and three weeks without eating. But what scientific evidence is there in the phrase?

They are more beliefs based on experience, often without great scientific support, the doctor advances. Let’s start at the beginning, the breath. Yes, it is true that the average apnea time of an untrained person is established between two and three minutes, but this is nothing more than an estimate that depends a lot on each individual because we also know professional athletes who exceed fifteen minutes. Time endures. assures.

The amount of time a person can go without drinking fluids is highly variable. According to the doctor, it depends on climate, activity, health status and body composition among other factors. The time that can go without drinking fluids in extreme heat is not the same as in extreme cold, in which case it will be longer. It is estimated Three to five days On average it will be the maximum reference value for untrained individuals.

Thus, it can be inferred that the same is true in the case of food. A person can maintain a fast for two or three weeks, but it depends on their physical condition, caloric reserves, temperature, the activity they engage in and other conditions. However, he adds a condition: the fast can be longer if fluids are provided. There are cases of more than two months;Despite severe physical deterioration and impact on important health parameters.

Therefore, there is no concrete answer to how long a human can survive without eating. In the case of the passengers on this plane, most are athletes and it is assumed that they have considerable muscle mass as they play rugby. It is also understood that the majority had good working capacity and health. Starting from this optimal situation, the fasting time can be extended.

When the only solution to dehydration is to melt the ice

There was no sign of life where the plane crashed. With the few provisions they had (some chocolate and wine) gone, they had neither civilization nor where to get food.

Extreme cold can cause the body to lose fluids more quickly as it works to maintain its internal temperature. This can lead to dehydration, which in turn can worsen the symptoms of hypothermia and make recovery more difficult, Gonzalez explains. It was what allowed the survivors to melt the ice so they could drink. Eating it directly would be more dangerous, as we drop our body temperature more abruptly, leading to burns, ulcers and ischemia, adds the doctor.

Do humans have some kind of reserve for such extreme situations?

The answer is yes. When a person, voluntarily or involuntarily, is deprived of food, in the first phase, the body uses glycogen reserves. This is mainly stored in muscles and liver. happens The first two days. From there, energy will be derived from fatty acids stored in adipose tissue. Internists say this leads to a state of ketogenesis with progressive deterioration of organs like the kidneys or liver.

After about two weeks, the body gets used to it muscle massWith progressive deterioration of all organs, leading to death.

Cannibal’s Extreme Decision

At a given moment, in order to survive, it is necessary for them to make a difficult (but necessary) decision: to feed on the flesh of other companions. How important is protein in these circumstances? They are large molecules made of amino acids. Nutrients that perform the largest number of functions in the cells of all living organisms. They are part of tissue structure and, on the other hand, have a metabolic and regulatory function, they are essential For proper functioning of our body.

Although these may be of animal or plant origin, the latter did not exist at the site where they suffered the accident. Foods rich in protein include eggs, meat, milk, grain products and legumes. Probably of all these, the only animal meat protein available in this situation would be. Gonzalez says that in a different scenario we could survive with plant-based people.