JJS wrote:
wrote in message oups.com...

JJS wrote:
...

From what I've gleaned from the discussion I still wouldn't consider nitrogen poisoning a true "poisoning". I
can't
really say I'd consider it suffocation either, at least as I previously viewed suffocation.

I think the proper term is asphyxiation.

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FF

You may be right but most of the on line dictionaries I looked at said something similar to:
Noun 1. asphyxiation - the condition of being deprived of oxygen (as by having breathing stopped)
Synonyms: suffocation

That is basicly what we are talking about, being deprived of oxygen.


I'm thinking that a reverse oxygen - carbon dioxide exchange is more insidious than ordinary suffocation. Perhaps
there is a medical term for this or maybe we need to invent a new one?


I think divers have a term for a similar phenomenum, _shallow water
blackout_.

http://www.freedive.net/chapters/SWB3.html

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FF