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Article: Ask professor Ossolotch.(Discoveries)(decompression sickness)
- Article from:
- Current Science, a Weekly Reader publication
- Article date:
- March 18, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Weekly Reader Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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What are the bends?
Topher Miller
Davis, Calif.
Dear Topher,
The bends is the common term for decompression sickness, The condition happens to deep-sea divers who surface too quickly. Dissolved nitrogen gas in the blood comes out of solution as a diver ascends and the pressure of the water on the diver decreases. Gas bubbles form in the blood in the same way they do when you open a soft-drink can.
The bubbles cause headaches, dizziness, shortness of breath, excruciating pain, and permanent tissue damage. The term bends comes from the posture that people adopt to relieve the terrible pain. People can die from the bends.
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