Mailing List Archive Mailing List Archive
> > I have a question about this!! Say it would be possible to offset O2 > > toxicity symptoms. You can only metabolize so much oxygen, and after > > that point is reached the oxygen would then be dissolved into ones system > > unused. Provided no toxicity problems occured, it would then be possible > > to become bent on oxygen. If this is possible, I would guess that the > Tony brings up a couple of interesting points here. Oxygen is not taken > into account for decompression calculations mostly because it only becomes > significant (from a decompression standpoint) at PO2s way in the CNS toxic > range. However, in the event that O2 toxicity can in some way be > pharmacologically supressed (not bloody likely, but lets entertain the > notion for the sake of argument), then oxygen may, indeed, become a > significant factor in decompression calculations. > > HOWEVER, as Tony points out, O2 is constantly being metabolized, so an O2 > bubble should resolve much faster than a bubble composed primarily of N2. > But even if it doesn't resolve faster (say, for example, dissolved PO2 is > maintained very high in the blood), would an O2 bubble be as problematic > as an N2 or He bubble? If the main damage caused by DCS bubbles is There is a small section entitled "Oxygen Bends" in _The Physiology and Medicine of Diving_ pg 395. Now being an engineer I didn't understand it all :-) but the gist I got from it was that Donald (1955) did an experiment (poor suckers) where he kept a constant ppN2 but varied the ppO2. At high ppO2, the goats got "transiently" bent, with 5 out of 6 recovering without recompression (ie perhaps metabolizing away the O2 from the bubbles). Anyone who understands all the 3 syllable (and bigger) words feel free to correct my understanding of that section :-) Mike -- Mike Zimmerman < zimmmt@au*.al*.co* > Alcatel Network Sytems, Ral, NC *My opinions, not Alcatel's* [\] NC Diving: http://www.vnet.com/scuba/ A is A. Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it.
Navigate by Author:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Subject Search Index]
[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]
[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]