Talk:Hyperventilation syndrome
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The page used to say the traditional remedy was to breathe into a plastic bag. I changed it since plastic bags are too new for it to be traditional, and every source I have seen says paper. But more to the point, is it safe to put a plastic bag over your mouth and try to breathe? If you're panicking already? Paper bags are both air-permeable (but restrict the air enough that it straightens out your breathing) and stiff enough not to be inhaled. --Andrew 11:45, Apr 16, 2004 (UTC)
[edit] O2/CO2
If the CO2 levels are lower, how is it that The amount of O2 that goes to the brain decreases?
- An untagged comment but on the same day! I too came across this article while editing the panic attack article. I am at a loss to see how the O2 levels going to the brain diminish. If anything they should increase marginally. Hyperventilation leads to higher O2 levels but only marginally. It is the CO2 that is the main gas that changes dramatically in hyperventilation. This sentence was added by 67.51.99.220 on 29 April 04. Since it is anonymous, unsupported by a reference and does not concord with usual respiratory physiology I have removed it. I have also added some other physiology. --CloudSurfer 04:41, 25 Sep 2004 (UTC)
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- Basically, the reason hyperventilating can lower blood oxygen levels is that breathing is stimulated by high levels of carbon dioxide in the blood. When carbon dioxide levels are low, the respiratory reflex is suppressed. So as soon as someone stops hyperventilating, they'll often start hypoventilating for a while immediately afterwards, until carbon dioxide levels return to normal. By that time their blood oxygen levels will often have dropped significantly below normal. Incidentally, this is why it's dangerous to hyperventilate before swimming or diving -- if you flush enough carbon dioxide out of your system and then hold your breath, you may not realise you're running out of oxygen until a couple of seconds before you lose consciousness. 203.45.6.118 13:31, 12 August 2005 (UTC)
