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Ventilatory response to transient hypoxia in O2 divers.
1Israel Naval Hyperbaric Institute, Israel Oceanographic & Limnological Research, Haifa.
Undersea Biomedical Research
|May 1, 1988
Summary
Repeated exposure to hyperbaric oxygen during oxygen diving does not impair peripheral oxygen chemosensors. Divers, including active and ex-oxygen divers, showed normal or enhanced ventilatory responses to hypoxia.
Area of Science:
- Physiology
- Diving Medicine
- Respiratory Control
Background:
- Peripheral oxygen chemosensors are crucial for regulating breathing.
- Hyperbaric oxygen exposure, as in oxygen diving, raises questions about potential effects on these sensors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if repeated acute exposure to hyperbaric oxygen impacts peripheral oxygen chemosensors.
- To assess the ventilatory response to hypoxia in various groups of divers and non-divers.
Main Methods:
- Evaluated ventilatory response to transient hypoxia in non-divers, active oxygen divers, ex-oxygen divers, and air scuba divers.
- Conducted repeat testing on diving candidates before and after 200 hours of oxygen diving.
Main Results:
- All diver groups exhibited a mean ventilatory response to hypoxia similar to or greater than non-divers.
- No impairment in hypoxic ventilatory response was observed after 200 hours of oxygen diving.
Conclusions:
- Oxygen diving within established limits does not appear to cause cumulative damage to peripheral oxygen chemosensors.
- Current oxygen diving practices seem safe for the function of peripheral oxygen chemosensors.