Carbon Dioxide - Vital to Good Health?
Carbon dioxide or CO2 is a gas created from our metabolic process as an end product.
The human lungs require 5% CO2 or 40 mmHg.
If we breathe too heavily, CO2 is exhaled or washed from our lungs.
A loss of CO2 from the lungs results in a reduction of CO2 in the blood, tissues and cells.
The release of oxygen from red blood cells depends on the partial pressure or quantity of carbon dioxide in your lungs/arterial blood.
When one is overbreathing, carbon dioxide is removed from the body, causing the oxygen to "stick" to haemoglobin within the red blood cells.
This prevents its release into tissues and organs.
This bond, discovered in 1904, is known as the Bohr Effect.
It is worth noting that during normal conditions, 75% of your intake of oxygen is exhaled while breathing a healthy volume of four to six litres per minute.
Even during intense exercise, it is estimated that 25% of our oxygen intake is exhaled.
Breathing a volume greater than normal does not increase the amount of oxygen in your blood, as it is already 97-98% saturated.
The Bohr Effect simply explained Healthy children and teenagers have quiet and unnoticeable breathing.
While they are resting, you cannot see or hear their breathing.
Quiet breathing ensures optimum partial pressure of carbon dioxide within their lungs, blood, tissues and cells.
The release of oxygen from the blood depends on the presence of carbon dioxide.
Overbreathing causes a loss of carbon dioxide from the lungs, blood, tissues and cells.
This results in less oxygen being released from the blood into the tissues and organs.
The more your child breathes, the more their body is being starved of oxygen.
Breathing through the mouth, sighs, sniffing, noticeable breathing, hearing breathing during rest or having low steps or Control Pause (explained later) indicates that your child is starving their body of oxygen.
The calmer and quieter your child breathes, the more their blood vessels open, enabling better circulation and distribution of oxygen throughout the body, including the brain.
To oxygenate your brain- breathe correctly.
IMPROVE OXYGENATION Carbon dioxide relaxes the smooth muscles that surround the airways, arteries and capillaries.
With a normal breathing volume of 5 litres of air per minute, the partial pressure of carbon dioxide amounts to 40mmHg.
Each 1 mmHg drop of arterial CO2 reduces blood flow to the brain by 2%.
In other words, oxygenation of your child's brain significantly decreases when they breathe heavily.
The heavier your child breathes, the more they feed their hyperventilation or overbreathing related problems.
Is your child tired in the morning after a night's breathing through the mouth? Do they snore? Do they hold their breath during sleep? Are their tonsils enlarged? Do they wet the bed? How is their concentration? Are they anxious? Do they have a blocked nose, cough or wheeze? SYMPTOMS OF CHRONIC HYPERVENTILATION • Neurological: light-headed feeling, poor concentration, memory lapses, faintness, headache, anxiety, tension, racing mind, numbness and tingling, tremor, depression, apprehension, irritability, brain fog, panic attacks, disrupted sleep, detachment from reality and stress.
• Heart: palpitations, a racing heartbeat, pain in the chest region and a skipping or irregular heartbeat.
• Respiratory system: wheezing, breathlessness, coughing, frequent colds and chest infections, chest tightness, frequent yawning, snoring and sleep apnoea.
• Gastrointestinal: Esophagal reflux, heartburn, aerophagia.
Other general symptoms include eczema, psoriasis, mouth dryness, fatigue, bad dreams, sleep disturbance, nightmares, ADHD, dry itchy skin, sweating, cramping, spasm, increased urination such as bed wetting or regular visits to the bathroom during the night, diarrhoea, constipation, general weakness and chronic exhaustion.
The human lungs require 5% CO2 or 40 mmHg.
If we breathe too heavily, CO2 is exhaled or washed from our lungs.
A loss of CO2 from the lungs results in a reduction of CO2 in the blood, tissues and cells.
The release of oxygen from red blood cells depends on the partial pressure or quantity of carbon dioxide in your lungs/arterial blood.
When one is overbreathing, carbon dioxide is removed from the body, causing the oxygen to "stick" to haemoglobin within the red blood cells.
This prevents its release into tissues and organs.
This bond, discovered in 1904, is known as the Bohr Effect.
It is worth noting that during normal conditions, 75% of your intake of oxygen is exhaled while breathing a healthy volume of four to six litres per minute.
Even during intense exercise, it is estimated that 25% of our oxygen intake is exhaled.
Breathing a volume greater than normal does not increase the amount of oxygen in your blood, as it is already 97-98% saturated.
The Bohr Effect simply explained Healthy children and teenagers have quiet and unnoticeable breathing.
While they are resting, you cannot see or hear their breathing.
Quiet breathing ensures optimum partial pressure of carbon dioxide within their lungs, blood, tissues and cells.
The release of oxygen from the blood depends on the presence of carbon dioxide.
Overbreathing causes a loss of carbon dioxide from the lungs, blood, tissues and cells.
This results in less oxygen being released from the blood into the tissues and organs.
The more your child breathes, the more their body is being starved of oxygen.
Breathing through the mouth, sighs, sniffing, noticeable breathing, hearing breathing during rest or having low steps or Control Pause (explained later) indicates that your child is starving their body of oxygen.
The calmer and quieter your child breathes, the more their blood vessels open, enabling better circulation and distribution of oxygen throughout the body, including the brain.
To oxygenate your brain- breathe correctly.
IMPROVE OXYGENATION Carbon dioxide relaxes the smooth muscles that surround the airways, arteries and capillaries.
With a normal breathing volume of 5 litres of air per minute, the partial pressure of carbon dioxide amounts to 40mmHg.
Each 1 mmHg drop of arterial CO2 reduces blood flow to the brain by 2%.
In other words, oxygenation of your child's brain significantly decreases when they breathe heavily.
The heavier your child breathes, the more they feed their hyperventilation or overbreathing related problems.
Is your child tired in the morning after a night's breathing through the mouth? Do they snore? Do they hold their breath during sleep? Are their tonsils enlarged? Do they wet the bed? How is their concentration? Are they anxious? Do they have a blocked nose, cough or wheeze? SYMPTOMS OF CHRONIC HYPERVENTILATION • Neurological: light-headed feeling, poor concentration, memory lapses, faintness, headache, anxiety, tension, racing mind, numbness and tingling, tremor, depression, apprehension, irritability, brain fog, panic attacks, disrupted sleep, detachment from reality and stress.
• Heart: palpitations, a racing heartbeat, pain in the chest region and a skipping or irregular heartbeat.
• Respiratory system: wheezing, breathlessness, coughing, frequent colds and chest infections, chest tightness, frequent yawning, snoring and sleep apnoea.
• Gastrointestinal: Esophagal reflux, heartburn, aerophagia.
Other general symptoms include eczema, psoriasis, mouth dryness, fatigue, bad dreams, sleep disturbance, nightmares, ADHD, dry itchy skin, sweating, cramping, spasm, increased urination such as bed wetting or regular visits to the bathroom during the night, diarrhoea, constipation, general weakness and chronic exhaustion.