Effects of low and high gas pressure on the body Dr Abdulrahman Alhowikan Collage of medicine Physiology Dep.

At the end of lecture students will be able to understand  The effects of exposure to low and high barometric pressures on the body.  Describe the body acclimatization to low barometric pressure.  Define decompression sickness and explain how it can be avoided.  The effects of high nitrogen pressure, and nitrogen narcosis.

High altitude (Low pressure) pressure 760 mm Hg represent Zero Altitude  Sea level of the barometric pressure 760 mm Hg represent Zero Altitude  At high-altitude 1. The barometric pressure will decrease -- oxygen partial pressure (Po2) decreases proportionately-- cause hypoxia problems 2. Co 2 is continually excreted from the pulmonary blood into the alveoli in High altitude level by breathing pure oxygen

Figure 43-1 Effect of high altitude on arterial oxygen saturation when breathing air and when breathing pure oxygen. © 2005 Elsevier High altitude (Low pressure) Cont.. different altitudesGraph show arterial blood oxygen saturation at different altitudes while a person is breathing air and while breathing pure oxygen altitude of about 10,000 feet blood oxygen saturation (SaO2 ) remains at least as high as 90 percent Above 10,000 feet, (SaO2 ) falls rapidly at 20,000 feet (SaO2) less than 70 percent

High altitude (Low pressure) Cont.. Guyton & Hall: Textbook of Medical Physiology 12E

The Effects of Hypoxia  ZpLi67NdD4w

Deep-Sea Diving (High pressure)  descending beneath the sea, increased the pressure around the diver's body 33 feet 2 atmospheres pressure  Relationship of Pressure to Sea Depth: a person 33 feet beneath the ocean surface is exposed to 2 atmospheres pressure 3 atmospheres  At 66 feet the pressure is 3 atmospheres, and so forth.. Figure 44-1 Effect of sea depth on pressure (top table) and on gas volume (bottom). Downloaded from: StudentConsult (on 2 February :43 AM)

: descending beneath the sea is compression of gases to smaller and smaller volumes  Effect of Sea Depth on the Volume of Gases- Boyle's Law: descending beneath the sea is compression of gases to smaller and smaller volumes a principle of physics called Boyle's law At 33 feet one-half litter  At 33 feet beneath the sea, where the pressure is 2 atmospheres, the volume has been compressed to only one-half litter  increased pressure collapse the air  increased pressure can collapse the air chambers of the diver's body, especially the lungs, and often causes serious damage. Deep-Sea Diving (High pressure) cont.. Figure 44-1 Effect of sea depth on pressure (top table) and on gas volume (bottom).

Nitrogen Narcosis at High Nitrogen Pressures no significant effect on bodily function  About four fifths of the air is nitrogen. At sea-level pressure, the nitrogen has no significant effect on bodily function but at high pressures it can cause varying degrees of narcosis alcohol intoxication  Nitrogen narcosis has characteristics similar to those of alcohol intoxication

Nitrogen Narcosis at High Nitrogen Pressures cont… beneath the sea for an hour will develop following symptom  divers remaining beneath the sea for an hour will develop following symptom  At about 120 feet --Mild narcosis drowsy  At 150 to 200 feet the diver becomes drowsy wanes considerablyclumsy  At 200 to 250 feet, his or her strength wanes considerably, and too clumsy to perform the work required become useless  Beyond 250 feet (8.5 atmospheres pressure) become useless

Body acclimatization to low barometric pressure acclimatized  A person remaining at high altitudes for days, weeks, or years becomes more and more acclimatized to the low Po2  The principal of acclimatization summarized in increases alveolar ventilation to a maximum of about 1.65 times normal 1-a great increase in pulmonary ventilation : low Po2 stimulates the arterial chemoreceptors, and this increases alveolar ventilation to a maximum of about 1.65 times normal then lead to reducing the Pco2 and increasing the pH of the body fluids -- inhibit the brain stem respiratory center -- oppose the effect of low Po2 --- after 2 to 5 days inhibition fades away 2- Increase in Red Blood Cells and Hemoglobin Concentration the hematocrit rises slowly from a normal value of 40 to 45 to an average of about 60hemoglobin concentration from normal of 15 g/dl to about 20 g/dl  exposed to low oxygen for weeks at a time, the hematocrit rises slowly from a normal value of 40 to 45 to an average of about 60, with an average increase in whole blood hemoglobin concentration from normal of 15 g/dl to about 20 g/dl  the blood volume also increases, often by 20 to 30 percent

3-increased diffusing capacity of the lungs  normal diffusing capacity of oxygen through the pulmonary membrane is about 21 ml/mm Hg/min  at high altitude increased similar to exercise performance--increased pulmonary capillary blood volume --expands the capillaries and increases the surface area of oxygen can diffuse into the blood. an increase in lung air volume  Another part results from an increase in lung air volume, which expands the surface area of the alveolar-capillary. pulmonary arterial blood pressure  A final part results from an increase in pulmonary arterial blood pressure; this forces blood into greater numbers of alveolar capillaries Body acclimatization to low barometric pressure cont…

4- increased vascularity of the peripheral tissues cardiac output increases  cardiac output increases as much as 30 percent of increased numbers of systemic circulatory capillaries  growth of increased numbers of systemic circulatory capillaries (or angiogenesis) 5- increased ability of the tissue cells to use oxygen despite low Po2. cell mitochondria and cellular oxidative enzyme systems are slightly more plentiful  In animals native to altitudes of 13,000 to 17,000 feet, cell mitochondria and cellular oxidative enzyme systems are slightly more plentiful than in sea-level inhabitants.

decompression sickness and how it can be avoided. nitrogen dissolved in the body fluids  Breathes air under high pressure for a long time--nitrogen dissolved in the body fluids increases is not metabolized by the body this removal often takes hours is the source of multiple problems  And because nitrogen is not metabolized by the body, it remains dissolved in all the body tissues until the nitrogen pressure in the lungs is decreased back to some lower level, however, this removal often takes hours to occur and is the source of multiple problems collectively called decompression sickness

nitrogen bubbles can develop  if diver suddenly comes back to the surface of the sea, nitrogen bubbles can develop in the body fluids either intracellularly or extracellularly decompression sickness. The bubbles may not appear for many minutes to hours because sometimes the gases can remain dissolved in the "supersaturated" state for hours before bubbling.  Due to decompression gases can escape from the dissolved state and form actual bubbles, in both tissues and blood where they plug many small blood vessels. The bubbles may not appear for many minutes to hours because sometimes the gases can remain dissolved in the "supersaturated" state for hours before bubbling. decompression sickness and how it can be avoided. Cont…

Symptoms of Decompression Sickness Tissue ischemia or tissue death  Tissue ischemia or tissue death due to gas bubbles blocking many blood vessels Pain in joints, muscles  Pain in joints, muscles of the legs and arms, affecting 85 to 90 % nervous system symptoms  In 5 to 10 % nervous system symptoms occur, ranging from dizziness in about 5 % to paralysis or collapse and unconsciousness in as many as 3 %. The paralysis may be temporary, but in some instances, damage is permanent.

Symptoms of Decompression Sickness  6Efvl6AwILo

Treatment of Decompression Sickness pressurized tank  Put the diver into a pressurized tank to lower the pressure gradually back to normal atmospheric pressure, by using this time schedule. 10 minutes at 50 feet depth 17 minutes at 40 feet depth 19 minutes at 30 feet depth 50 minutes at 20 feet depth 84 minutes at 10 feet depth

helium is usually used in the gas mixture instead of nitrogen for three reasons one-fifth the narcotic effect of nitrogen one half as much volume of helium dissolves in the body tissues as nitrogen, the low density of helium  In very deep dives, helium is usually used in the gas mixture instead of nitrogen for three reasons: (1) it has only about one-fifth the narcotic effect of nitrogen; (2) only about one half as much volume of helium dissolves in the body tissues as nitrogen, and the volume that does dissolve diffuses out of the tissues during decompression several times as rapidly as does nitrogen, thus reducing the problem of decompression sickness; and (3) the low density of helium (one seventh the density of nitrogen) keeps the airway resistance for breathing at a minimum, which is very important  in very deep dives it is important to reduce the oxygen concentration in the gaseous mixture because otherwise oxygen toxicity would result elevated partial pressures of O2 Treatment of Decompression Sickness cont…

Thank you Reference book Guyton & Hall: Textbook of Medical Physiology 12E