Hyperventilation
| Hyperventilation | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Overbreathing |
| Specialty | Pulmonology |
| Symptoms | Rapid breathing to the point where the body eliminates more carbon dioxide than it can produce |
| Complications | Fainting |
Hyperventilation or overbreathing is breathing at a higher frequency (i.e. tachypnea) and overall volume than the normal range for a healthy individual. Physiological hyperventilation or panting is a normal metabolic response to exercises that occurs when the respiratory center of the central nervous system increases both the respiratory rate and tidal volume to supply more oxygen for the body's cellular respiration and remove carbon dioxide as a metabolic waste, and it is also a mode of evaporative thermoregulation in many terrestrial animals (e.g. dogs). Pathological hyperventilation, on the other hand, is a sign of stress responses either due to an underlying respiratory illness or due to disorders in other body systems that have triggered a respiratory compensation, and is often accompanied by the symptom of shallow, uncomfortable and sometimes agonized breathing effort commonly known as "shortness of breath" and "gasping".
Prolonged or excessive hyperventilation can lead to respiratory alkalosis, in which the increased ventilation eliminates more carbon dioxide than the body can produce.[1][2][3] This leads to hypocapnia, a reduced concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide in the blood plasma, which causes a raised blood pH due to shifted chemical equilibrium. At the initial stages, the body normally attempts to homeostatically compensate for this alkalosis via renal compensation, but if this fails and the body's other physiological reserves are overwhelmed, the alkalosis can shift the oxygen–hemoglobin dissociation curve and makes it harder for oxygen to be released from the blood stream into body tissues, resulting in hypoxia. The symptoms of respiratory alkalosis include dizziness, headache, weakness, tingling in the lips, hands or feet, fainting, and seizures. In extreme cases, it may cause carpopedal spasms, a flapping and contraction of the hands and feet.[3][4]
Factors that may induce or sustain[2] hyperventilation include: physical exertions, pain, anxiety or panic disorder, high altitude, head injury, stroke, respiratory disorders such as asthma, pneumonia, or hyperventilation syndrome,[5] cardiovascular diseases such as pulmonary embolisms, anemia, an incorrectly calibrated medical respirator,[1][3] and adverse reactions to certain drugs. Hyperventilation can also be induced intentionally to achieve an altered state of consciousness such as in the choking game, during breathwork, or in an attempt to extend a breath-hold dive.
See also
[edit]- Choking game, a game which may involve hyperventilation to induce temporary syncope and euphoria
- Control of respiration
- Kussmaul breathing
- List of terms of lung size and activity
- Respiratory alkalosis
- Shallow water blackout, the role of hyperventilation in some drowning incidents
References
[edit]- 1 2 Guyton, Arthur C.; Hall, John E. (2005). Textbook of medical physiology (11th ed.). Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders. p. 397. ISBN 0-7216-0240-1.
- 1 2 Longo, Dan; et al. (2012). Harrison's principles of internal medicine (18th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 2185. ISBN 978-0071748896.
- 1 2 3 Brandis, Kerry (30 August 2015). "6.2 Respiratory Alkalosis - Causes". Acid-base Physiology (Reviewed in 2006 by the American Thoracic Society).
- ↑ Byrd, Ryland P Jr. (5 August 2016). "Respiratory Alkalosis: Background, Pathophysiology, Epidemiology". eMedicine.
- ↑ "eMedicine - Hyperventilation Syndrome: Article by Edward Newton, MD". Retrieved 29 November 2016.
External links
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