Uses of Carbon Dioxide in the Human Body
Normal level of CO2 (carbon dioxide) is absolutely fundamental for human health. For example, CO2 facilitates O2 (oxygen) transport from air to tissues and cells. This is possible due to three assisting and enhancing CO2 effects or uses of carbon dioxide in the human body: bronchodilation (in bronchi and bronchioles), vasodilation (in arteries and arterioles), and the Bohr effect (in tissues). Note that cell hypoxia (low oxygen content ) is a normal finding for chronic diseases, as well as chronic hypocapnia. Hence, we can compare oxygen transport in healthy and sick people by studying carbon dioxide effects.
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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 generated in tissues by mitochondria ... 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 O2 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 uses of CO2, apart
from
breathing control, include:
- Nerve stabilization
(stabilization of the nervous system due to calmative or sedative
effects of carbon dioxide)
- Muscle relaxation
(relaxation of muscle cells)
- Brochodilation
(dilation of airways: bronchi and bronchioles by carbon dioxide)
- Blood
pH (blood pH regulation and regulation of other bodily fluids)
- Other chemical reactions (there
are many other regulatory and facilitating effects related to uses of
carbon dioxide)
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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 carbon dioxide 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 carbon dioxide 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... |
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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... |
This short review answers the question "What carbon dioxide is used for in the human body?", while there are many more useful CO2 roles for science to discover.