Smoking & air consumption

[Socco]

OK, here's a bit of science for you or a bit of a shaggy dog story, depending on how you look at it.

I am a smoker and I am trying to quit (yet again and, why is it so any divers seem to be smokers?). I took myself down to see the doc and got some interesting info. Carbon monoxide is absorbed into the blood when you smoke. This is similar to nitrogen build up when we dive. As a persons smokes through the day then more CO gets absorbed thus reducing the blood's capacity of other gases to be absorbed - i.e. O2. When a smoker goes to sleep at night then the CO dissipates - just like nitrogen. Conclusion - smoking reduces your ability to absorb O2 because it is already full of CO.

Just to give you non-smokers something to think about... if you live in a congested city like London where there are more cars than we can fit on the road at any one time, sometimes you might feel a bit grouchy, can't concentrate, have a headache etc. This is not because you are not healthy or not getting enough sleep but that you are absorbing a lot of CO from the pollution in the atmosphere thus reducing your O2 level in the blood stream.

OK, now I opened a can of worms and I am sure as eggs is eggs that someone will correct my assumptions here (after all I am but a humble IT nerd and no doctor) but I wanted to give folks something to think about and give the non-smoker something to relate to as well.

bye for now.

[lottie]

Thanks for that bit of information Socco, very informative too.

Don't give up trying to give up.

[littleleemur]

I know some diving smokers who have phenomenal SAC rates. I always figured that it was because they were already used to functioning with part of a lung and that remaining part had to become more efficient in order to support the body. I also wondered how much better their SAC rates would be if they finally managed to quit....

Please keep trying to quit. My grandpa has quit for over 25+ years had some medical imaging done last year that showed his lungs full of tar and severely scarred! The doctors were amazed that he is doing so well healthwise and have directly contributed that to his quitting. He is turning 90 this year