Talking Too Much or Excessive Talkativeness: Health Effects

Can too much talking or excessive talking undermine our health? Normal people, as one Western study found, breathe twice as much air when they speak. That reduces their brain CO2 and O2 stores. Long conversations and excessive talkativeness can thereby lead to dizziness, light-headedness, loss of concentration, emotional instability, muscular tension, abnormal posture and other negative effects.

Furthermore, even 10-20 minutes of continuous speaking resets the breathing center to lower arterial and brain CO2 levels promoting hyperventilation, tissue hypoxia and chronic diseases.

Measuring effects of excessive talking

A study conducted by the National Center for Neurogenic Communication Disorders and Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, The University of Arizona (Tucson, USA) entitled Influence of continuous speaking on ventilation revealed that the average ventilation increased from resting 7 l/min to almost 14 l/min during speeches (Hoit & Lohmeier, 2000). Average initial end-tidal CO2 pressure of these healthy young American men was almost 38 mm Hg. After 10 minutes of speaking it dropped to about 31 mm Hg.

A quick calculation shows that their average initial CP (body-oxygen test - see below) was about 29 s, after 10 min public speaking their average CP was correspondent to 14 s. Hence, 10 min of speaking reduced their brain oxygenation about two times. For most subjects even many minutes of recovery were not enough to completely restore initial CO2 and O2 levels.

Talkativeness promotes chronic diseases

Hence, excessive talkativeness or talking too much produces devastating health effects and promotes any chronic disease: cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and many others. Furthermore, additional negative effects of modern speaking skills include mouth breathing (for inhalations) and thoracic breathing (using the upper chest). Both these factors further reduce oxygen delivery to body cells.

During lectures and public speeches, or when just talking too much, it is important not to take deep inhalations between phrases (Buteyko, 1969). Dr. Buteyko and about 180 Soviet medical doctors developed other ideas described on the web page Correct public speaking skills, as a part of the Buteyko breathing method that increases body oxygenation.

Questions. What can you say about breathing, emotions, and postures of these talking women? Is this picture typical for modern times?

Reference pages: Breathing norms and medical facts:
- Breathing norms: Parameters, graph, and description of the normal breathing pattern
- 6 breathing myths: Myths and superstitions about breathing and body oxygenation (prevalence: over 90%)
- Hyperventilation: Definitions of hyperventilation: their advantages and weak points
- Hyperventilation syndrome: Western scientific evidence about prevalence of chronic hyperventilation in patients with chronic conditions (37 medical studies)
- Normal minute ventilation: Small and slow breathing at rest is enjoyed by healthy subjects (14 studies)
- Hyperventilation prevalence: Present in over 90% of normal people (24 medical studies)
- HV and hypoxia: How and why deep breathing reduces oxygenation of cells and tissues of all vital organs
- Body-oxygen test (CP test) : How to measure your own breathing and body oxygenation (two in one) using a simple DIY test
- Body oxygen in healthy: Results for the body-oxygen test for healthy people (27 medical studies)
- Body oxygen in sick : Results for the body-oxygen test for sick people (14 medical studies)
- Buteyko Table of Health Zones: Clinical description and ranges for breathing zones: from the critically ill (severely sick) up to super healthy people with maximum possible body oxygenation
- Morning hyperventilation: Why people feel worse and critically ill people are most likely to die during early morning hours

References: pages about CO2 effect:
- 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: How alveolar CO2 influences oxygen transport
- Oxygen transport: O2 transport is controlled by vasoconstriction-vasodilation and the Bohr effects, both of which rely on CO2
- Free radical generation: Reactive oxygen species are produced within cells due to anaerobic cell respiration caused by cell hypoxia
- Inflammatory response: Chronic inflammation in fueled by the hypoxia-inducible factor 1, while normal breathing reduces and eliminates inflammation
- Nerve stabilization: People remain calm due to calmative or sedative effects of carbon dioxide in neurons or nerve cells
- Muscle relaxation: Relaxation of muscle cells is normal at high CO2, while hypocapnia causes muscular tension, poor posture and, sometimes, aggression and violence
- Bronchodilation: Dilation of airways (bronchi and bronchioles) is caused by carbon dioxide, and their constriction by hypocapnia (low CO2)
- Blood pH: Regulation of blood pH due to breathing and regulation of other bodily fluids
- CO2: lung damage: Elevated carbon dioxide prevents lung injury and promotes healing of lung tissues
- CO2: Topical carbon dioxide can heal skin and tissues
- Synthesis of glutamine in the brain, CO2 fixation, and other chemical reactions
- Deep breathing myth: Ignorant and naive people promote the idea that deep breathing and breathing more air at rest is beneficial for health
- Breathing control: How is our breathing regulated? Why hypocapnia makes breathing uneven, irregular and erratic.

References
Buteyko KP, Lecture in the Moscow State University, Soviet national journal Nauka i zshizn'; [Science and life], Moscow, issue 10, October 1977.

Hoit JD & Lohmeier HL, Influence of continuous speaking on ventilation, J Speech Lang Hear Res 2000 Oct; 43(5): 1240-1251.

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* Illustrations by Victor Lunn-Rockliffe

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