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Thanks Rob, I'd like to hear what your buddy, the hyperbaric physiologist has to say. One list member has suggested to me that the heavily overweight divers may actually absorb less nitrogen then currently assumed (based on Nitrogen solubility in fat) because of the extremely poor vascularization of fatty tissues (this means slower in and MUCH SLOWER OUT), which would place diffusion rates in these tissues at well below what will occur in areas with well developed capillary beds.. Regards, Dan . >>What are your thoughts on this Rob, and do you have any recommendations in >>how to implement this as a modification to the tables using VO2 max. I am >>copying this to George as well, and hopefully he will print it out and show >>it to Bill Hamilton, for his views and expertise in the physiological and >>statistical decompression model arena. > >WOW! I just took the exam to prove that I can *USE* the tables and now >you're asking me to *rewrite* them? > >Seriously, the differences in gas exhange differentials between high >altitude low pressure physiology and high pressure dive hyperbarics is >too great for me to meaningfully comment (just not enough carry-over >between the two diciplines... I'm still learning this stuff!). This >really is a question for the formally trained hyperbaric docs. Any >comments from me at this stage of my reading and I'd peg the needle of my >BS meter! > >One factor to think about though in the "elite" fit diver/athlete, >irrespective of speculated differences or causes in gas diffusion >exchange rates, is that most likely the fit diver is carrying a *lower >percentage of body fat*. > >Now, writing a complex differential equation to describe alterations in >in-gasing vs off-gasing with depth and time between fluid compartments is >one tough #$&(@ of a math problem (at least for me) but it might be >somewhat simplified by accounting for differences in gas solubilities >between divers. > >If we agree that N2 is some 5 times more soluble in fat than in lean >muscle tissue (I've got a reference for that somewhere around here) then >a relatively small reduction in body fat would have a significant effect >of the total amount of desolved N2. The fit diver may simply not be >picking up as much N2 in the first place (and that may be more important >than any difference in vascularity). > >This last comment falls into the speculation catagory on my part. We've a >real live hyperbaric physiologist at AFIP who dives and occasionally >lurks here who I could ask Monday (and is probably having a hoot watching >me twist in the wind!) > >Robb Wolov > > Dan Volker SOUTH FLORIDA DIVE JOURNAL "The Internet magazine for Underwater Photography and mpeg Video" http://www.florida.net/scuba/dive 407-683-3592
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