And what about people like David Blaine or Tom Sietas? Sietas held his breath underwater for over 22 minutes (world record). I know they train for it like months and even years, but doesn’t holding your breath = no oxygen to brain?
Permanent brain damage apparently occurs just after 4 minutes of lack of oxygen to the brain, so why are freedivers left generally unscathed after 8 or 10 minutes without air?
In: Biology
Everyone else has given great answers, but I’d like to give a simple analogy that may make sense.
We all know a car needs gas to run, just like the brain needs oxygen. Deprive an engine of gas, and it will eventually coast to a stop. If you’re in a moving car, and it runs out of gas, you only have a limited time before it stops moving. This is why cars have gas tanks.
The body is similar – divers take a whole lot of deep breaths before they dive, which is similar to a car filling up with gas. And when they dive, they use up the oxygen stored in their blood like a car uses up the gas in its tank.
The blood running out of oxygen is similar to the car running out of gas – once it’s gone, there’s a time limit. For a moving car that means coming to a stop, and for a human that means brain damage.
Latest Answers