Edmonds C. Children and diving: a review of SPUMS articles. SPUMS J 2003; 33: 206-211) This review of recent articles relating to scuba training of children published in the SPUMS Journal counterbalances some of the perceived bias of the diving industry organisations and affiliates. Additional case reports are supplied and factual information regarding diving deaths is related to the specific l...

Deep diving refers to saturation diving to a depth of more than 180 m (1.9 MPa ambient pressure). In the 1990s diving to 400 m may be necessary on the Norwegian continental shelf. The safety margins are narrow and the respiratory system is subject to great strain at such depths. The respiratory resistance increases and the dynamic lung volumes are reduced as the pressure increases due to enhanc...

The main objective of this study was to determine heart rate (fh) and the energetic costs of specific behaviours of king penguins while ashore and while foraging at sea during their breeding period. In particular, an estimate was made of the energetic cost of diving in order to determine the proportion of dives that may exceed the calculated aerobic dive limit (cADL; estimated usable O2 stores/...

The diving environment provides a challenge to the lung, including exposure to high ambient pressure, altered gas characteristics and cardiovascular effects on the pulmonary circulation. Several factors associated with diving affect pulmonary function acutely and can potentially cause prolonged effects that may accumulate gradually with repeated diving exposure. Evidence from experimental deep ...

During scuba diving, the circulatory system is stressed by an elevated partial pressure of oxygen while the diver is submerged and by decompression-induced gas bubbles on ascent to the surface. This diving-induced stress may trigger decompression illness, but the majority of dives are asymptomatic. In this study we have mapped divers' blood transcriptomes with the aim of identifying genes, biol...

A harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) exhales and submerges. As water contacts its nostrils, there is a rapid increase in firing of the cardiac vagus nerve and the heart rate drops from 100 to 10 beats per minute. Simultaneously, an alpha-adrenergic peripheral vasoconstriction results in a central shift in oxygen-rich blood volume. The inferior vena cava enlarges to the size of a football. Though card...

  Background :There is not any data available about the effect of high bar pressure condition on intracranial pressure. In this study, the effect of diving on the optic nerve and sheath diameters as non-invasive markers of intracranial pressure has been investigated.   Methods : Twenty professional male divers from twenty one volunteers were chosen for this cross-sectional study. Only one perso...

Underwater submersion in mammals induces apnea, parasympathetically mediated bradycardia, and sympathetically mediated peripheral vasoconstriction. These effects are collectively termed the diving response, potentially the most powerful autonomic reflex known. Although these physiological responses are directed by neurons in the brain, study of neural control of the diving response has been ham...