It does not prevent us from freezing to death when we go running at 6 in the morning in the middle of January, but it is a small step closer to this goal. It is the first antifreeze cream for humans, and antifreeze products sound a lot like mechanics like cars and motorcycles, but science has discovered an ointment that freezes the cells of our body.
There are many who are exposed to low temperatures throughout the year, from climbers, skiers, hikers, mountaineers, trail running fans, soldiers, etc. All of them have to endure temperatures below 15 degrees below zero at various times of their day, either for work or for fun.
These are very critical temperatures for human survival, and the new discovery of science could make us somewhat more resistant to those harsh temperatures with which many have to work and live daily. But it is not about making us resistant to the cold in the style of Elsa from Frozen, but trying to protect our skin so that it does not suffer excessively.
Freezing not only kills the cells of our body, but sometimes the cold penetrates and can damage deeper tissues such as tendons, muscles and bones, among others. This leads to infections and permanent damage to the nerves or nerve cells.
We can delay these consequences by quickly heating that part of the body, but by then, many cells will have already died and there will be consequences. For this reason, this discovery can turn the lives of these people who go into such low temperatures to work as rescue services or to play sports as mountaineers or extreme skiers.
A cream for sports in winter
The researchers tried many combinations and finally the one that gave the best result was 2% DMSO combined with 1.6 mg/ml PVA. With this mixture, it was possible to preserve the largest number of living cells, approximately 80%.
Best of all, it wasn’t just that it protected cells from the cold, it also protected membranes and cytoskeletons, and they could even divide and express proteins somewhat normally, so it’s almost complete protection with a good percentage. of success.
Then came the time tests, and it is that two modes were tested, if the ointment was applied 30 minutes before exposure to cold, it did not give the same result as if it was applied 15 minutes before . This last option gave better results.
They called this cream SynAFP and if it continues to be tested with it in mice. They have seen frostbite wounds decrease in size with the use of this ointment and even heal faster than when antifreeze cream is not used.
The frequency of use is still being studied, since they tried to spread it several times during the test, and found that it did not damage the fabric, but there is still a lot to find out. This cream or ointment was mixed with an aloe vera gel to see if it improved the effectiveness, but it did not.
