A person who is overheated will have a red flushed appearance a person who is chilled will be pale with blue finger tips explain this appearances in terms of the body's control of one of the methods?

hot = vasodilation (the veins are dilated) when a person's body temperature is up, the reason they become flushed and have the reddish tint to the skin is b/c the veins are dilated and blood is close to the skin surface. this is the body's way of attempting to cool down.

cold = vasoconstriction (the veins are constricted) a person looks pallored (pale) and cyanotic (bluish) when their temp is down b/c the veins are constricted and blood is not close to the skin surface. this is the body's attempt to conserve heat.

HOUNDDAWG adds:

Presumably most of the answer applies only to light skinned people such as Caucasians.

Just as Crayola Crayons used to have one color labeled "flesh" the above answer is a bit insensitive to the fact that most of the people of the world do not have skin the color of that now wisely discontinued crayon, and most do not turn red or blueish with extreme body temperatures. But, anyone who does not is indeed "a person" as used in the above question.

Fingernails may still be blue if a darker skinned person is cyanotic or cold, but skin temperature to the touch will also answer the question for responding medical personnel, and shallow or labored breathing, pulse and other vitals will reliably aid in assessing a person's condition if they're not "a person" in some limited context such as the question posed.

First answer by Bowhuntress2002. Last edit by HOUNDDAWG. Contributor trust: 12 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 1 [recommend question].