Helium During the 1930’s the U.S. Navy tested other gases as a substitute for nitrogen. Their scientists conducted experiments using rare gases such as helium, neon, and argon. After numerous trials, helium was selected as the most suitable gas to dilute oxygen for deep diving. Helium is the second lightest element known to man; in...

As the popularity of SCUBA diving continues to grow, scientists are better able to determine what the long-term effects, if any, are on the human body. For every overt case of decompression sickness that is treated, there are many divers with covertly occurring intravascular bubbling, whose ramifications we are just beginning to understand. We know...

The effects of oxygen are increased at depth so that the maximum PO2 in diving is 1.6 ATA, and this is achieved at 218 fsw breathing air, 132 fsw breathing 32% O2, and 20 fsw breathing 100% O2. This is due to the effects of Dalton’s Law which states that on descent, the partial pressure...

POSSIBLE NEUROLOGICAL EFFECTS There is evidence of neuropathological changes in the CNS of some divers who, at the time of death, had had no recorded incidence of decompression illness and who had been considered fit to dive (Mork 1988: Movild and Mork 1994; Palmer et al 1990). There is, however, other than the acute decompression...

Diving Concerns Condition Related The pressures of diving would have no effect on the intracranial pressure. The increased intracranial pressure causes symptoms that can be confused with those of decompression sickness – headache, tinnitus, nausea and vomiting. It also causes loss of vision. Treatment Related Treatment is by osmotic diuresis, diuretics, spinal taps and the...