The Hypoxic Drive Theory…DEBUNKED!

We’ve all heard it at some point or another: “Don’t give that COAD patient too much oxygen”. It has led us to believe that oxygen is a REALLY bad thing in patients with chronic obstructive airways disease (COAD).

 How does altitude affect the body and why does it affect people differently?

Every year, thousands of people travel to high-altitude environments for tourism, adventure-seeking, or to train and compete in various sports. Unfortunately, these trips can be marred by the effects of acute altitude sickness, and the symptoms vary from person to person. To understand why people are affected differently, we have to look at how the body is affected by altitude.

 Suffocating the Ocean

Oxygen-depleted oceans have preceded many mass extinctions in Earth’s past, including the worst one of all 252 million years ago. Are hypoxic dead zones from California to Namibia a harbinger of the next extinction?

 The Terrifying, Ongoing Mystery of Suffocating Fighter Pilots

IT'S THE SCENARIO every fighter pilot dreads. Their mind goes blank. They forget their emergency drills, or can't recall their call sign. Their fingers fumble controls. They get disoriented or even lose consciousness. Worst of all, they don't even realize it's happening. These are the symptoms of hypoxia, when the brain doesn't get enough oxygen.

 When a plane loses pressure, here's what happens to your body

Hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen, can be remarkably hard to recognize but also completely destroys your ability to function. And it happens really fast. The Federal Aviation Administration says that “The ability to take corrective and protective action is lost in 20 to 30 minutes at 18,000 feet and 5 to 12 minutes at 20,000 feet, followed soon thereafter by unconsciousness.

Cancer’s Last Gasp? Could Be, If Hypoxia Pathway Is Blocked

Low-oxygen conditions ought to suffocate cells, but somehow cancer cells survive. They even progress and spread more aggressively, thanks to a newly identified signaling pathway, the HIF-GPRC5A-YAP axis. Blocking this pathway, scientists suggest, could choke cancer.

Climate change may be sparking new and bigger

Climate change seems to be starving some waters of oxygen.

High-Altitude-Hypoxia: Many solutions to one problem

research offers tantalizing clues as to how populations living in the highlands of Tibet, Ethiopia, and the Andes are able to cope with atmospheric oxygen pressures as low as 60% of that at sea level.

Hypoxia: Knowledge and Prevention

Pay attention to your body's warning signs to prevent hypoxia.

Into Thin Air: Mountain Climbing Kills Brain Cells

The neural cost of high-altitude mountaineering.

Prime Suspect in Infant Deaths: Lack of Oxygen

The thinner, oxygen-poor air above 2,400 meters may be among the environmental stressors that increase the risk of SIDS.

The ocean is losing its breath – and climate change is making it worse

Global climate change produces many effects – warming air energizes the atmosphere and intensifies storms; warmer water expands and raises sea level; storage of more carbon dioxide in the oceans is acidifying large realms. Now it is becoming clear that another, profound result of human activities is underway: lower oxygen levels in our oceans.

Troubleshooting Hypoxia on the Vent

For the purposes of acute deterioration (in the form of hypoxia) on the ventilator, we are gonna talk about two airway pressures: peak pressure and plateau pressure.