H2Andy
Contributor
holy cow...
nasty
nasty
Emphysema
- Thread starter JAMIE MCG
- Start date
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Although Im not a real doctor and sure I will be put right by somebody more knowladgeable than myself...not only isknow if i have wrong end of stick? their the pnuemothorax problem, surely it blocks gas exhange passage therefore retaining things in the lungs eg nitrogen therefore leading to increased chances of dci? Can somebody let me
What kind of a question is that?
Theoretically, but not likely practically, limited surface area for gas exchange could slow the movement of nitrogen from the blood into the lungs and increase chances of DCI.
Again, people with this severe of disease are not likely to be the go getters that push the envelope of activity and accumulate much nitrogen.
Theoretically, but not likely practically, limited surface area for gas exchange could slow the movement of nitrogen from the blood into the lungs and increase chances of DCI.
Again, people with this severe of disease are not likely to be the go getters that push the envelope of activity and accumulate much nitrogen.
fisherdvm
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I think of emphysemia as damaged units of lung cells. These are prone to air trapping - thus increasing the chance of barotrauma. Barotrauma can lead to what someone else noted - pneumothorax. It can also lead to bleeding inside the lung.
The worse case scenario is air embolism - an air bubble getting inside the arterial or venous system causing a stroke, and permanent disability.
If you had a true diagnosis of emphysemia, I would say, just snorkel. Don't dive.
The worse case scenario is air embolism - an air bubble getting inside the arterial or venous system causing a stroke, and permanent disability.
If you had a true diagnosis of emphysemia, I would say, just snorkel. Don't dive.
Just a couple of things
It is the lung units (alveoli) and connective tissue that cause the disease and not "lung cells"
A pneumothorax is a type of barotrauma (pressure trauma or injury)
Pneumothoracies rarely cause bleeding
Air emboli are bad but more rare.
Diving with emphysema is not good.
It is the lung units (alveoli) and connective tissue that cause the disease and not "lung cells"
A pneumothorax is a type of barotrauma (pressure trauma or injury)
Pneumothoracies rarely cause bleeding
Air emboli are bad but more rare.
Diving with emphysema is not good.
Charlie59:
Sorry. Just re read my post and realised what a load of rubbish it was......never try and make a serious point after a bottle and a half of wine!!!:shakehead
Thank you for understanding and answering my question though
Here's the word from Scuba Doc, Ernest Campbell, MD:
Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Bronchitis, and Emphysema
Like having asthmatic
attack all the time!
The issue of whether a patient with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) should dive is very similar to the individual who has asthma. The same theoretical arguments apply to the individual with COPD concerning the increased risk of AGE (arterial gas embolism), except that in the person with COPD airway function never returns to normal. Thus, the diver or diver candidate with COPD may have an increased theoretical risk of burst lung from rupture of obstructed small airways at all times.
How does this affect the individual?
From a practical point of view, by the time individuals with chronic lung diseases become symptomatic they are usually so short of breath that they are incapable of sustaining even the small exercise capacity necessary to dive, and as a result, it is extremely rare to see a diver with significant COPD.
What should you tell the diver with COPD?
COPD is generally a disease that develops after decades of exposure to tobacco smoke, and is a disease of older individuals, which again makes it rare to encounter a diver with COPD in a diving medicine practice. By the time COPD can be detected clinically, the person has usually deteriorated physically to the point that such individuals should be advised against diving merely on the basis of their exercise tolerance.
Abnormal pulmonary
function tests
Thus, the question of advising someone with COPD is boils down to a question of advising someone who is asymptomatic but who has abnormal pulmonary function tests.
Reactive airway disease
In addition, there may be a component of reactive airway disease; that is, their pulmonary obstruction acts somewhat like an asthmatic attack, varying with external stimuli, and the obstruction is treated with similar bronchodilating drugs as for asthma. If we are to be consistent and manage individuals with COPD in a similar fashion to the way we manage asthmatics, then individuals with clear-cut laboratory evidence of COPD should be advised not to dive.
Laboratory Evidence
In practice, this evidence is defined as pulmonary function tests that are more than two standard deviations from normal. Unfortunately, the exact definition of normal is still unclear, and as a result, individuals with mild disease may have pulmonary function test values that overlap predicted normal values between two standard deviations and the mean.
Borderline cases should
undergo more extensive
testing
As a result, individuals whose isolated values may be at the low end of the normal range should undergo more extensive testing if their clinical history is suggestive of chronic lung disease. If, however, further studies confirm preliminary observations in submarine escape trainees that pulmonary function tests lack useful predictive value for predicting pulmonary barotrauma, using pulmonary function tests as criteria for diving (other than to assess exercise capability) will have to be reconsidered.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written and maintained by
Ernest S Campbell, MD, FACS
scubadoc@scuba-doc.com
Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Bronchitis, and Emphysema
Like having asthmatic
attack all the time!
The issue of whether a patient with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) should dive is very similar to the individual who has asthma. The same theoretical arguments apply to the individual with COPD concerning the increased risk of AGE (arterial gas embolism), except that in the person with COPD airway function never returns to normal. Thus, the diver or diver candidate with COPD may have an increased theoretical risk of burst lung from rupture of obstructed small airways at all times.
How does this affect the individual?
From a practical point of view, by the time individuals with chronic lung diseases become symptomatic they are usually so short of breath that they are incapable of sustaining even the small exercise capacity necessary to dive, and as a result, it is extremely rare to see a diver with significant COPD.
What should you tell the diver with COPD?
COPD is generally a disease that develops after decades of exposure to tobacco smoke, and is a disease of older individuals, which again makes it rare to encounter a diver with COPD in a diving medicine practice. By the time COPD can be detected clinically, the person has usually deteriorated physically to the point that such individuals should be advised against diving merely on the basis of their exercise tolerance.
Abnormal pulmonary
function tests
Thus, the question of advising someone with COPD is boils down to a question of advising someone who is asymptomatic but who has abnormal pulmonary function tests.
Reactive airway disease
In addition, there may be a component of reactive airway disease; that is, their pulmonary obstruction acts somewhat like an asthmatic attack, varying with external stimuli, and the obstruction is treated with similar bronchodilating drugs as for asthma. If we are to be consistent and manage individuals with COPD in a similar fashion to the way we manage asthmatics, then individuals with clear-cut laboratory evidence of COPD should be advised not to dive.
Laboratory Evidence
In practice, this evidence is defined as pulmonary function tests that are more than two standard deviations from normal. Unfortunately, the exact definition of normal is still unclear, and as a result, individuals with mild disease may have pulmonary function test values that overlap predicted normal values between two standard deviations and the mean.
Borderline cases should
undergo more extensive
testing
As a result, individuals whose isolated values may be at the low end of the normal range should undergo more extensive testing if their clinical history is suggestive of chronic lung disease. If, however, further studies confirm preliminary observations in submarine escape trainees that pulmonary function tests lack useful predictive value for predicting pulmonary barotrauma, using pulmonary function tests as criteria for diving (other than to assess exercise capability) will have to be reconsidered.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Written and maintained by
Ernest S Campbell, MD, FACS
scubadoc@scuba-doc.com
OP
JAMIE MCG
Contributor
To all for your replies, my wife had an abnormal chest xray, which they mentioned emphazima and they are sending her to a pulmonalogist for further tests.
H2Andy
Contributor
i am sorry to hear that... hope all turns out ok
does she smoke?
does she smoke?
OP
JAMIE MCG
Contributor
Thanks and yes she's on Chantix for 2 wks trying to quit.
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