Prolonged exposure to cold and heat, and loss of heat and fluids during disasters (avalanches, landslides, fires, floods, etc.) can cause numerous adverse changes in individuals that may threaten their lives. The biochemical mechanisms of these changes and the biochemical adaptation mechanisms that can keep individuals alive in the face of these changes are examined.

Disasters and the adverse environmental conditions they cause (increased or decreased temperature, exposure to fire, being trapped under rubble or avalanches) disrupt an individual's standard conditions (temperature, osmolality, fluid loss, and resulting pH changes). The identification of these changing conditions, the resulting fear, and the creation and management of a basic metabolic response to developing stress occur within the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis. Changes in body temperature are detected via thermoreceptors, osmolarity via osmoreceptors, and blood pressure via baroreceptors, and the central nervous system initiates chemical communication with the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis to restore balance. Epinephrine released from the adrenal medulla activates the metabolism in fight-or-flight mode. Muscle tremors increase the metabolic rate, glycogen stores are rapidly mobilized, and intracellular glucose concentration rises rapidly. The rate of glycolysis in muscles increases to approximately two thousand (~2000) times that of a normal individual. In the liver, it stimulates gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis, thus ensuring a continuous release of glucose into the blood. It activates lipolysis in adipose tissue, increasing the release of free fatty acids. The continuous supply of metabolites for energy requirements allows for a "fight or flight" mode, enabling the individual to cope with adverse conditions in unexpected situations.

Although the biochemical response initiated by signaling restores the disrupted balance through homeostatic dynamics, prolonged or increased adverse conditions will endanger the individual's life. In this review, the limits were defined within the context of hypothermia, hyperthermia, osmolarity, water, and electrolyte balance.