Quiz - Physiology - After a Dive

[Pedro Burrito]

From the Physiology section of the PADI Dive Theory Exam:

After a dive, ___ may be present in a diver's circulation system, yet the diver may not display any symptoms of decompression illness.

a. transparent bubbles

b. vascular bubbles

c. silent bubbles

d. micronuclei seeds

I will post a daily question from my exams to help newer divers and to encourage more experienced divers to interact gracefully and helpfully with the newer divers.

Reminder - this is a post in the Basic Forum and it is a green zone. Please be nice and on topic.

Thank you for your patience while we try to give people something to discuss other than Covid-19 and/or Politics. I will post the answer covered by the spoiler tag later today.

 

[Aviyes]

silent bubbles/vascular bubbles...same thing

 

[Brett Hatch]

silent bubbles/vascular bubbles...same thing

Silent bubbles are in the vascular system, sure, but so are symptomatic bubbles. ("Loud" bubbles?)

Never heard of transparent bubbles. My view is that all of (b), (c), and (d) are technically true. Further, (b) and (d) are always true, even for people who have never dived in their life. But the question is clearly looking for (c). But hey, what do I know, I'm sure we're in for 4 pages of quibbling.

 

[TMHeimer]

I know about the seeds, but think they're attached somewhere, not floating around in the circulation system. Need one of the "professors" (as someone else referred to) to give details. Has their (seeds) existence been proven or is it theoretical?

 

[Storker]

Has their existence been proven or is it theoretical?

I'm not quite sure of what "their" refers to, but totally asymptomatic divers have been proved to bubble when investigated with ultrasound. So, "silent bubbles" - or whatever you want to call them - is a thing. So, it's prudent to assume that we all bubble after a dive, only questions are how much and whether it manifests as DCS.

 

[Pedro Burrito]

Spoiler: Answer

c. silent bubbles

 

[Pearlman]

Spoiler: Answer

c. silent bubbles

I'lll bet you can hear them with a stethoscope ...