CO2 effects
How and why CO2 influences oxygen delivery to cells
Oxygen is delivered via blood and is released by haemoglobin cells in tissues due to some biochemical reactions. Let us investigate CO2-related physiological effects on circulation and O2 transport.
|
Vasodilation (expansion of arteries and arterioles). As physiological studies found, hypocapnia (low CO2 concentration in the arterial blood) decreased perfusion of the following organs: - brain (Fortune et al, 1995; Karlsson et al, 1994; Liem et al, 1995; Macey et al, 2007; ...) Read more ... |
The Bohr effect was first described in 1904 by the Danish physiologist Christian Bohr (father of physicist Niels Bohr). He stated that at lower pH (more acidic environment), hemoglobin will bind to oxygen with less affinity. Since carbon dioxide is in direct equilibrium with the concentration of protons in the blood... Read more ... |
These 2 effects (Vasoconstriction-Vasodilation and the Bohr effect) are part of the following 2 diagrams that summarizes influences of hypocapnia (low CO2 content in the blood and cells) on circulation and O2 delivery.
Those people who breathe less have longer breath holding time and more oxygen in tissues. Those people who breathe heavier (or deeper/bigger) have much less oxygen and shorter breath holding time. Why? This video clip provides the answer. Video clip "Physiology of oxygen transport" (it will open in a new window).
Other fundamental physiological properties of CO2, apart from breathing
control, include:
-
Nerve stabilization (stabilization of the nervous system)
-
Muscle relaxation (relaxation of muscle cells)
-
Brochodilation (dilation of airways: bronchi and bronchioles)
-
Blood pH (blood pH regulation and regulation of
other bodily fluids)
-
Other chemical reactions
|
This myth ("CO2 is a toxic, waste, and poisonous gas") is one of the greatest modern superstitions. Thousands of medical studies has proven that reduced CO2 levels in cells, tissues, organs, and fluids of the human organism cause numerous adverse effects. What are the origins of this myth? In the 1780s, French scientist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier determined the composition of air. Read more ... |
Any medical or physiological textbook, which discusses control or regulation of breathing in the human body, states that breathing is mainly controlled by CO2 concentrations in the brain and arterial blood. Obviously, should CO2 be poisonous, it would be normal to have it as little as possible, but the situation is opposite and the "poison" controls respiration, the fundamental function of the human body... |
|
When chronically hyperventilating, should I experience all these bad effects? The above CO2 deficiency effects take place in all people. However, the degree of these problems and the symptoms (what is felt) are individual ... |
Now we can answer the most fundamental questions related to health and genetics. Why and when are bad genes triggered? Why did we have such small rates of chronic diseases only 100 years ago? Genes and diseases: How we react to hyperventilation... |
Our next step is to investigate how breathing controls development of various specific diseases and symptoms.