Does nitrox make you feel good?

[WVDiver]

WOW, This is great stuff. This is classic. This could become the next MOF thread. I'm so glad I was here to see it happen and that I posted on the first page. Nothing like a no way to prove anything thread to get the blood pumping, divide the camps and tear our little world apart (in a friendly way) What fun.

 

[wardric]

Take divers, give air or nitrox, multiple days and even multiple dives. Ask on scale of 1-10 how tired are you after each dive. Compile data and apply statistics. Yep, real rocket science.

You cant do that. Too many variables. Even for the same individual, the answer could be very different from day to day depending on their condition and the dive profile.

 

[wardric]

this is not a scientific study. It would theoretically be impossible to conduct a purely scientific study, since you would in reality have to see how it effects EACH person, at the same time. One would have to dive nitrox and air on the same dive, given the same physical condition at the time. Measure fatigue before, etc... there's just too many factors.

A double blind study doesn't take into account how the people feel before they dive...

This article from SCUBADIVING magazine was discussed in length when it came out.

exactly what I meant, just didn't read your post before

 

[Charlie59]

I could do it with lots of money and lots of divers. Don't tell me I can't. I don't know why I would but I could.

Plus, why is the current study not enough for you?

 

[WVDiver]

exactly what I meant, just didn't read your post before

I agree Howard, well said.

 

[Charlie59]

I don't blame him, I didn't read it either.

 

[wardric]

Why couldn't a study be designed to ask people how they felt after (and before if you like) a dive and compare it to their "usual" dive. Place these people on varied fiO2 and compare if more O2 equals feeling better or less tired.

Because there is no "usual" dive. Each is different and the physical and mental condition of the diver is too. For example, I get 7 days older every week.

 

[HowardE]

This reminds me of Sesame Street, when Ernie is sitting with a banana in his ear, and Burt says, "Why do you have a banana in your ear" - Ernie says it's to keep the alligators away... Burt says, "but there aren't any alligators" and Ernie replies, "well then it must be working"

 

[wardric]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrox#_note-0

Ohh, that changes everything. If wikipedia says it, it must be true

 

[fisherdvm]

This is the synopsis of the Undersea Medicine article, it looks like a dang good study to me (the summary is from pubmed).

Hyperbaric Medicine Unit, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia 5000.

Many divers report less fatigue following diving breathing oxygen rich N2-O2 mixtures compared with breathing air. In this double blinded, randomized controlled study 11 divers breathed either air or Enriched Air Nitrox 36% (oxygen 36%, nitrogen 64%) during an 18 msw (281 kPa(a)) dry chamber dive for a bottom time of 40 minutes. Two periods of exercise were performed during the dive. Divers were assessed before and after each dive using the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20, a visual analogue scale, Digit Span Tests, Stroop Tests, and Divers Health Survey (DHS). Diving to 18m produced no measurable difference in fatigue, attention levels, ability to concentrate or DHS scores, following dives using either breathing gas.

Hey.... this is the SAME study I quoted: Still the same critique I will give... Too darn small sample size. Age and sex of the participants were not noted. But that does not mean I discount it, we just need to have more than 1 study.

Just remember we had a complete reversal of the former recommendation for hormone replacement in postmenapausal woman of 15 years ago. We once thought that it decreased heart attack, decrease alzheimer, etc... Now we did a 180, and said that it increased heart attack, increased breast cancer, etc. .... And the study was done with thousands of participants.

We can not rest on this singular study of 11 participants.