crazed chemoreceptors????

[navy"medic"chic]

As a underwater medicine student i have completed 4 table 62 oxygen recompression treatments. In the last hour of the treatment we as attendants go on oxygen for 1 hour to breath of the excess nitrogen. Soon after i put on the BIBs mask i get the unsurpressable urge to yawn every few minutes. Yes it usually is late at night, can i simply attribute this to oxygen induced tiredness (i don't feel tired) or........
Is this something to do with decreased levels of carbon dioxide, ph levels, with the chemoreceptors sending messages to the medulla to increase levels via a drive to yawn. No doubt i am way off and as i seem to be the only one with this problem it makes me look very bored, which must not impress the patient too much i am sure.

 

[BillP]

Howdy navy"medic"chic:

I don't think anyone really knows why we yawn, but I beleive that the current thinking is that it is more related to "stretching" rather than CO2. Stretching the muscles (whether of the body or of the face as in a yawn) seems to help waken a sleepy brain.

HTH,

Bill

 

[Dr Deco]

Dear medic chic:

During some of the time that I was at the Institute of Applied Physiology and Medicine in Seattle, Washington, I had the occasion to participate in many sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Of the couple hundred patients, I never heard one remark about yawning while breathing oxygen. It is not common.

As BillP indicated, yawning is something that people do when they are tired, as the increase in blood flow seems to partially dispel the lethargy. Yawning, as we all know, is “catching.” One person seeing another yawn will also begin to do this.

It is true that it is also a sign of boredom. I am reminded of when Mark Twain was asked if he minded when people looked at their watch while he was speaking. He replied, “I am only bothered when they shake the thing and put it to their ear to find out if it is still running.”

Dr Deco
-- on vacation this week :mean:

 

[BillP]

As Dr. Deco said, yawning is catching. People yawn to equalize the pressure in their ears. When the eardrums move as the pressure is equalized they subtly alter the barometric pressure in the room destabilizing the pressure in everyone else's ears. Everyone in the room will continue yawning unitl each has equalized their ear pressure.

HTH,

Bill

The above information was intended for humor purposes only and was not meant to be at all serious.

 

[navy"medic"chic]

You never know BillP you could be onto something as we are slowly returning to surface during our on 100% O2 phase. Body taking charge and equalising. However i am the only clever (hehehe) person doing it.

I have been doing some more reading and low levels of Pco2 depress respiration, yawning is one big breath ventilating the alveoli so i agree it isnt Ph level driven.

But im not tired or bored at the time.................