Oxygen - Carbon Dioxide Transport & Hypocapnia (CO2 Deficiency)

The graph on the left represents normal oxygen transport, while the graph on the right side represents the most common clinical situation in the sick. It explains the mechanism of cell hypoxia due to hyperventilation with changes in arterial and venous blood gases and oxygen and carbon dioxide partial pressure in cells.

Summary of O2-oxygen and CO2-carbon dioxide transport from air to cells and tissues

Since hypocapnia (carbon dioxide deficiency) causes constriction of arteries and arterioles and the suppressed Bohr effect, overbreathing (breathing more than the medical norm) reduces O2 tension in cells of the brain, heart, kidneys, liver, and other vital organs.
Hence, the effects of chronic hyperventilation on oxygen transport are due to:
- constriction of blood vessels: arteries and arterioles (less blood and oxygen is delivered to cells and tissues)
- inefficient Bohr effect (less oxygen is released in cells and tissues).

Note that the real-life situation in the sick people (sick people breathe at rest about 2.5 times heavier than the physiological norm) can be worse due to increased chest breathing. As we discussed before, during chronic hyperventilation most people switch from diaphragmatic to chest breathing. Chest breathing reduces oxygenation of the arterial blood due to lowered oxygen supply for lower divisions of the lungs. In the meantime, the diaphragm is also deprived of CO2 and O2. This leads to spasm and chronic fatigue in the diaphragm, when a greater potion of air is inhaled using the costal (or chest) muscles.

Finally, since lower divisions of the lungs get more supply of the blood (due to gravity), this chest breathing effect is amplified and oxygenation of the arterial blood is further diminished.

Therefore, there are 3 independent mechanisms of hypocapnia or carbon dioxide deficiency that hampers efficiency of oxygen transport: chest breathing, vasoconstriction, and suppressed Bohr effect.

References: CO2 Effects Web Pages
Vasodilation: CO2 expands arteries and arterioles facilitating perfusion (or blood supply) to all vital organs
The Bohr effect How and why oxygen is released by red blood cells in tissues
Cell Oxygen Levels and oxygen transport are controlled by alveolar CO2 and breathing
Oxygen Transport depends on breathing and these two effects (Vasoconstriction-Vasodilation and the Bohr effect) are parts of two diagrams that summarize influences of hypocapnia (low CO2 content in the blood and cells) on circulation and O2 delivery
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Inflammatory Response is controlled by breathing since hypoxia leads to or intensifies chronic inflammation through over-expression of the hypoxia-inducible factor 1, while normal breathing reduces these processes
Nerve stabilization takes place due to calmative or sedative effects of carbon dioxide in neurons or nerve cells
Muscle relaxation or relaxation of muscle cells is normal at high CO2, while hypocapnia causes muscular tension, poor posture and, sometimes, aggression and violence
Brochodilation - dilation of airways (bronchi and bronchioles) by carbon dioxide, and their constriction due to hypocapnia
CO2: Best Natural Cough Suppressant and "home remedy" since it calms urge-to-cough nerve receptors located in the tracheobronchial tree and larynx
Blood pH regulation and regulation of other bodily fluids
CO2: Lung Damage Healer: Elevated carbon dioxide prevents injury and promotes healing of lung tissues
CO2: Skin and Tissue Healer
Synthesis of Glutamine in the Brain, CO2 fixation, and other chemical reactions
CO2 myth "CO2 is a toxic waste gas" myth
Breathing control How is our breathing regulated? Why hypocapnia makes breathing uneven and erratic?

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