Tag: Scuba diving

According to the Divers Alert Network (DAN), heart disease is a factor in nearly 25% of diving fatalities, underscoring the critical need for medical screening. Understanding what is an absolute contraindication for scuba diving is the first step in prioritizing safety and preventing potentially fatal incidents in the underwater environment.

According to the Divers Alert Network (DAN), every dive is a decompression dive, as your body absorbs and releases nitrogen whenever pressure changes. This fact is critical to understanding the specific protocols, and why the question, **do you need to decompress at 30 feet**, has an important and nuanced answer for every scuba diver.

While nitrogen is a vital component of proteins and nucleic acids, an excess can be toxic. Knowing **what happens when you have too much nitrogen in your body** is crucial, as it can lead to serious health issues impacting the nervous system, kidneys, and liver.

The human body's physiological response to water immersion, known as the mammalian dive reflex, helps conserve oxygen. But it has its limits, and understanding these boundaries is critical to grasping the answer to how far can you go underwater without dying.

While nitrogen gas makes up nearly 78% of the air we breathe, it is not used by the body for metabolism and can become harmful under specific conditions. Understanding **why is nitrogen bad for the body** requires looking beyond its inert atmospheric form to its various chemical compounds and environmental pressures.

Oxygen, while essential for life, can become toxic when administered at high partial pressures over a prolonged period. This condition, known as hyperoxia or oxygen toxicity, can lead to serious side effects affecting multiple systems within the body.

Air embolism is a rare but potentially fatal condition that occurs when air bubbles enter a vein or artery. In fact, incidence rates are low, but the risk of serious harm remains significant. The good news is that with proper protocols and education, it is possible to prevent an air embolism from happening in many high-risk scenarios.

The human ear is sensitive to pressure changes, which is why a safe and effective equalization technique is crucial for divers. For those using the Valsalva maneuver, the maximum depth is often limited to around 10–15 meters (30–50 feet) before it becomes ineffective and potentially dangerous, especially in freediving.

Did you know that water pressure increases by one atmosphere for every 10 meters (33 feet) you descend? This immense force dramatically changes the human body's physiology, profoundly altering **what happens to your body if you go too deep in water**.