Blood pressure?

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I was just reading this thread because one of my students (college freshman and pretty fit) said he felt dizzy and fainted about 3 hours after our dive (it was the first training dive - 15 feet for about 30 min). He immediately went to the clinic and they told him he fainted from low blood pressure. I asked him if he had any other symptoms, and he told me he had been sick with a fever for several days, but it had gone down before the dive (would have been nice to know before we went in). Anyway, my question is: Could being worn down by fever/illness contribute to a greater effect of low blood pressure after a dive?
 
Very interesting thread.

Does drysuit squeeze affect ones blood pressure in any significant way while diving?
 
If you are diving the dry suit tight enough to make a difference, you're going to be extremely uncomfortable.

dakardiver, being "worn down" won't change the effect of low blood pressure, but having a fever can contribute to getting dehydrated (as does the immersion diuresis of diving), which can help produce a low blood pressure.
 
Blood, like other liquids, is virutally "non-compressible" at the depths we are talking about here. Thus, fluid dynamics (blood flow, urinary flow, lymph flow, cerebrospinal fluid flow) proceed at depth the same as they do on the surface. This is important also for those diving with cerebrospinal fluid shunts for hydrocephalus or with implanted liquid pumps such as those that dispense chemotherapy, narcotics, etc. In general, at recreational depths, these device function normally.

The major effect of body immersion on bp is the effect of increased venous pressure, not arterial pressure. Increased abdominal and thoracic pressure tends to affect thin-walled structures like the vena cava. The body "interprets" this increased venous pressure as if we are very fluid overloaded, thereby reducing the output of antidiuretic hormone. This drastically increases urine output as the body mistakenly tries to reduce venous pressure by dumping blood volume. This is why we often have to pee shortly after getting into the water, even at swimming pool depths. Cold also increases urinary output.

Thus, if we are already fluid depleted, or on medications that vasodilate or limit heart rate increases (like certain blood pressure meds) and then dive for extended periods, we may dump enough fluid in urine to make us hypotensive when we get to the surface.
 
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