Eli5 how does decompression illness kill you?
In: 509
The deeper you dive, the more compressed gasses become. Let’s say at a certain depth, oxygen is compressed by 2 times. If you were to surface immediately, you would have twice the oxygen volume in your lungs. That’s why divers rise slowly – the gasses gradually expand as they rise, so they can breathe out the gasses slowly.
Your blood also has gasses dissolved in it. The same property applies here. As another user said, this basically causes blood clots, but formed by gasses instead.
Latest Answers