Hypoxia

Question: How long would a coma caused by aquatic hypoxia span? If someone fell into a coma from aquatic hypoxia, would it take a short amount of time, or would it vary like most other cases would? I want to know for a story, and I'd really like even the most vague answers, but really just to know if it could last for up to a few months or indefinitely(weeks, months, years, etc.). Thanks.

Answer: If we're talking by a coma caused by someone becoming hypoxic due to drowning/being under water, then the length of time they can be in that coma can truly vary to whatever length of time you like (for the sake of your story) and still be legitimate, because, when it comes to coma duration, anything can happen. My fiancé is in a coma because he became hypoxic (for a reason other than drowning, but it doesn't make any difference to the brain tissue really *why* it became hypoxic, just that it happened), and has been that way for 16 weeks (which is about 3.5-4 months). Anyway, since you wanted a straightforward answer: most people who fall into a coma due to oxygen deprivation/hypoxia, if they are going to come out of their coma, will come out of it within two weeks. The longer they are in a coma afterward, the worse their chances of recovery become. How deep in their coma they are is also a factor in how long it might take them to recover (if they ever do), and patients who exhibit the fewest or most depressed responses to communication and pain (in that order) are deemed to have worse chances of recovery. Most (but not all) patients who are going to recover from their coma in the 2 week window rate 8 or higher in the Glasgow Coma scale—a scale for measuring the depth of a person's unconsciousness—which means that they will usually at least murmur or groan, withdraw from pain, and/or open their eyes to pain or voice. Good luck with whatever you’re writing. :)

Question: Is it possible to have hypoxia and not know it and would the doctor notice? Can a person have hypoxia over a period of time and not know it and the doctor not notice it on exam?

Answer: It is possible to have a mild hypoxaemia over a period of time especially if one suffers from chronic respiratory disorders, but usually the doc would notice it with the help of a pulse oximeter. If the doc doesnt notice, it is negligence on his part! Rgds Lex

Question: What is hypoxia and why did my eye dr. say I might have a slight case? I went to the eye doctor and he made the comment to the contact lense lady that I have a slight case of hypoxia. When I looked it up online, it had to do with lack of oxygen to the body, but how does that affect my eyes? I have no known health problems (relating to breathing) or anything, but he made the comment about me wearing my contacts while asleep and such. What is it and how does it affect my eyes?

Answer: Your eyes get oxygen by being exposed to the air. If you are wearing contact lenses too much then the eyes cannot get enough oxygen and become hypoxic. It has nothing to do with your lungs or general health. You should rest your eyes, i.e no contact lenses, for at least 4-6 hours a day, and this does NOT include whilst you're asleep, as your eyelids are preventing oxygen getting to the eye just as contact lenses do.

Question: If a person passes out from hypoxia how long would it take to regain consciousness w/ bottled oxygen? Imagine the events of Helios flight 522 taking place but in my scenario the flight attendant puts an oxygen mask on the seated co-pilot before the independent cockpit supply ran out (in other words assume in time to have capacity to revive the pilot). How much time, typically, for a person to regain consciousness after loosing it to hypoxia?

Answer: How long is a piece of string? There is no hard and fast answer to this question, depending as it does on how hypoxic the victim becomes and how long he remains in that state. It may even get to the stage where recovery is not possible.

Question: Why cellular hypoxia cause bradycardia and abolition of pacemaker activity? Why cellular hypoxia depolarizes the membrane potential causing bradycardia and abolition of pacemaker activity? Because I figure it should accelerate heart rate so called tachycardia?

Answer: Well hypoxia is a lack of oxygen. Technically speaking if the body is deprived of oxygen for long periods of time it starts to basically shut down. For instance if you can;t breath then basically you will die. Bradycardia becomes an onset of this because ischemia which leads to bradycardia thereby causing the abolition of pacemaker activity.

Question: Is it true that oxygen therapy is only beneficial in one type of hypoxia? Which type of hypoxia is it, and is there any research available on the subject?

Answer: difference between hypoxia and hypoxemia. Hypoxia is low oxygen levels available to the tissues, or the tissues are unable to use or receive the 02 that is available, as in sepsis, or pulmonary embolus. Hypoxemia is low 02 concentrations in the arterial blood. oxygen therapy could remedy hypoxemia by increasing the amount of 02 in the blood, but not fix hypoxia if the problem is using the oxygen, no matter how much is available..hope this helps....

Question: How does alcohol and smoking contribute to hypoxia, for pilots flying aircraft?

Answer: Smoking produces carbon monoxide, which sticks to hemoglobin much easier than oxygen. This reduces the hemoglobin available for transporting oxygen to the brain causing Hypemic Hypoxia - which is the inability of blood to carry oxygen. Alcohol inhibits cells from having the ability to effectively use oxygen. This is called Cytotoxic Hypoxia. One ounce of alcohol = 2,000 feet of additional altitude on the body. FYI - There are two other types of hypoxia: 1. Hypoxia - which is an inadequate supply of oxygen (altitude sickness) 2. Stagnant - Inadequate circulation of the blood. This is usually due to heart problems. Hope this answers your question.

Question: What is the difference between asphyxia and hypoxia? Both mean that there is not a sufficient supply of oxygen being given but what is the difference and if there is no difference, why use two different words for the same thing?

Answer: Asphyxia can be caused by injury to or obstruction of breathing passageways, as in strangulation or the aspiration of food (choking) or large quantities of fluid (near-drowning or drowning). The aspiration of food or fluid can result in a shrunken and airless state of the lungs that is known as atelectasis, a condition that aggravates hypoxemia. Asphyxia can also be caused by suffocation, the inability of sufficient oxygen to reach the brain, as in carbon monoxide poisoning. Hypoxia / hypoxemia is a condition in which there is an inadequate supply of oxygen in the blood. Hypoxia is caused by: A reduction in partial pressure of oxygen Inadequate oxygen transport The inability of the tissues to use oxygen

Question: What is it like to be in a hypoxia chamber? I have the opportunity to simulate what its like to be at 30,000 ft with no oxygen mask. My school currently has one for demonstration and since im in an aviation career field, I'd like to try it out. However, I don't know what to expect and I've heard some crazy stuff. Will I forget to put the oxygen mask on? Will I feel sick during/afterwards?

Answer: I hope someone will be in the chamber with you who is already wearing an oxygen mask to be of assistance to you when you are ready to pass out.

Question: How can poorly operating water treatment plants increase hypoxia in Long Island Sound?

Answer: The parameter that operators of a waste water treatment plant use for the water is BOD, Biological Oxygen Demand. incoming waters have chemicals, waste, debri that, if left untreated, will deplete the oxygen in rivers and streams that it comes in contact with. by treating the wastewater, they remove the BOD and restore the chemical and biological balance. a poorly operated treatment plant will allow unprocessed wastewater to enter LISound and there it will deplete the oxygen. Hypoxia. wer

Question: What is hypoxia and why did my eye doctor say I might have a slight case? ? I went to the eye doctor and he made the comment to the contact lense lady that I have a slight case of hypoxia. When I looked it up online, it had to do with lack of oxygen to the body, but how does that affect my eyes? I have no known health problems (relating to breathing) or anything, but he made the comment about me wearing my contacts while asleep and such. What is it and how does it affect my eyes?

Answer: Sounds like your doctor may not have explained it well enough. Hypoxia is a lack of oxygen, but in your case, the doctor was only talking about your eyes lack of oxygen. Basically the eye breathes air just like we do, getting much of its nutrients and what it needs from the air. ANytime someone has contact lenses over the eyes, there is a barrier between the eyes and air preventing it from getting enough nutrients. You may have heard of the newer lenses having better oxygen transmissability, meaning they let more oxygen through to the eye. Keep in mind, nothing lets more oxygen to the eye than NO contact lenses. When you wear your contacts too much - or your eye is getting hypoxic (not enough air to the eyes) - you develop small blood vessels near the front of the eye. These blood vessels may grow and spread if the hypoxia continues causing irrititation if it gets bad enough. Thats probably what your doctor saw to suggest that you are wearing your contacts too much. Sleeping in contacts is always NOT GOOD. Think about it - you have lenses over your eyes and then eyelids over that - not much oxygen getting to the eyes then! There you have it, try to reduce your contact lens wear (less hours per day, less days a week) and no sleeping in contacts.

Question: 1) What's the difference between asphyxia and generalized hypoxia? 2) How does hypoxia induce blindness?

Answer: 1. Asphyxia refers to being unable to get air into the airways, causing a lack of oxygen. Asphyxia can be caused by anything that blocks air, including choking. Hypoxia is the result of oxygen not getting to body tissues and organs, and hypoxia can occur even when air is getting into the lungs if there is another reason that oxygen either isn't getting across the membranes of the lungs into the blood (like in pneumonia) or if the red blood cells are unable to carry it (like in carbon monoxide poisoning). Generalized hypoxia would be a widespread hypoxia affecting the body as a whole and is usually caused by things like altitude sickness in healthy people. Some organs, like the brain, and some areas, like the retina, are exquisitely sensitive to oxygen deprivation. Which leads us to your second questions... 2. Hypoxia can quickly induce blindness because the retina is served by one small artery (logically enough, the retinal artery) and it usually has no alternate or "collateral" supply. Once the cells of the retina die, they can't be replaced, so the person will be blind.

Question: Cerebral Hypoxia: Can it lead to secondary issues later in life? Can cerebral hypoxia, caused at birth, lead to cerebral or cerebral arterial issues (i.e. brain tumor, weak arterial walls or stroke) later in life? Thank you Crypto... Very indepth answer. It laid to rest my main concerns. I appreciate that very much.

Answer: Mild to moderate cerebral hypoxia generally has little or no impact beyond the episode of hypoxia. Significant cerebral hypoxia is another matter. Outcome will depend on the success of damage control measures, the amount of brain tissue deprived of oxygen, and the speed with which oxygen was restored to the brain. Cerebral hypoxia that is localized to a specific part of the brain will have damage that will be localized to that region. Long term effects will depend on the function of that portion of the brain. Damage to the Broca and Wernicke’s areas of the brain (left side) generally causes problems with speech and language. Damage to the right side of the brain may interfere with the ability to express emotions or interpret what one sees. Damage on either side can cause paralysis of the opposite side of the body. Perinatal asphyxia (PA) and its neurologic manifestations are the most important cause of brain injury and neurologic sequelae in full-term infants .... the best predictive risk factors for the neurological prognosis at follow-up are severe PA at birth and/or evidence of encephalopathy in neonatal period ... which leads to poor outcomes neurologically ....

Question: how could hypoxia be affected by water column stratification? I am not sure on this, I am assuming in the different layers of water the oxygen levels woudl be different so in some areas hypoxia woudl occur but I am not sure that is right

Answer: Sure! In the upper layers, where sunlight is plentiful, there would be photosynthetic organisms soaking in the sun and giving off oxygen. The deeper layers have less light, or no light, therefor no photosynthesis and less oxygen. Also the deeper layers tend to be colder, which allows for less dissolved oxygen in the water.

Question: How might off-shore drilling affect hypoxia in the ocean?

Answer: It will probably prevent it. If you look into the Gulf Coast Oil Platforms, you will find that they have become a rich resource for fish. I doubt that fish would be living in places that were unfriendly to them.

Question: Why tissue hypoxia and a build-up of vasoactive metabolites dilate arterioles? Thank you for answers.

Answer: There are 2 theories for why tissue hypoxia causes vasodialation. The first one suggests that the oxygen sensor detects the partial pressure of oxygen in tissue and responds with feedback release of local mediators such as adenosine, KATP channel activation, eNOS-derived NO, and/or prostacyclin, as well as feed-forward sympathetic activation of ß-adrenergic receptors. The more recent one suggests that hemoglobin's allosteric conformational state serves as the oxygen sensor with the allosteric quaternary structural transition from R (relaxed or oxygenated tetrameric conformation) to T (tense or deoxygenated tetrameric conformation).

Question: What is the difference between hypoxia and hypoxemia?

Answer: Clinically, hypoxemia is generally considered a decreased partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (PaO2) ... depending on citings, less than 60 mmHg Hypoxia is a deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching body tissues. This can be regional or general in nature.

Question: Does Obama have hypoxia from longterm smoking? I mean is that why his lips are purple? What are the risks? as far as health wise...is it possible he may have serious complications?

Answer: How would we know? Are we his doctor?

Question: why is there an occurence of cyanosis during hypoxia? i mean why is there occurence of being a bit blue in color, when the blood is actually red, what happens that makes it blue?

Answer: Hemoglobin, which is a molecule that attaches to RBC, gives the cells its red color when it is carrying oxygen. When it is not carrying oxygen it cannot produce the red pigment and the blood appears blue.

Question: Why would a patient who has undergone severe hypoxia related to methadone overdose have leukocytosis? wbc 19.7

Answer: If that WBC was done in the acute time-frame, on presentation to the hospital or during the first hours, it's likely nothing but a stress reaction. As you're probably aware, while there may be 5-10,000 WBC/microliter in the peripheral circulation, there are plenty more WBC's hanging out on the vessel walls. Stress hormones (epinephrine, cortisol, etc) tend to centralize this peripheral pool, shoving them off the curb into the street as it were. Of course, the clinical context is such that you have to worry about aspiration pneumonia, drug abusers may have odd infections (endocarditis and multiple brain abscesses are just two that come immediately to mind in "shooters"), and there are all the usual possibilities as well.