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
When you hold your breath there is still a lot of oxygen in your blood and that gets carried to your brain.
For example when choking someone and you apply too much pressure on their neck so the blood can’t flow to the brain anymore then the choked person will be unconscious after just a few seconds because of the lack of oxygen. You don’t get unconscious from holding your breath though because your blood is still flowing and carrying oxygen into your brain.
Of course, if you hold your breath long enough then there will be no oxygen left in your blood and you will lose conscience and eventually your brain will die off.
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