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Scuba Diving Saved My Life
"You smoked four packs of cigarettes a day?" "Yes." "Four?" "I said yes." "Three belts of scotch and fatty shortribs for lunch?" "That's right." That was forty years ago. I don't think I could have entered my ninth decade without having made some major changes. At the time I signed up for a YMCA scuba course, though, I had no idea that a chain of events would prolong my life. Who thinks about dying when they are in good health and 40? The Plan. Learning scuba taught me how to breathe all over again by expanding and contracting my lungs in a simple daily exercise. It's hyperventilation on land. (WARNING: don't try this without checking with a doctor, and it's a good idea to have someone with you in case you get dizzy.) The process begins with fully expanding your chest, then inhaling more air. That's right: inhale to total lung volume, hold for a few seconds, then inhale a little bit more. Don't exhale. Inhale and hold; inhale and hold - maybe six times. Finally, exhale down to as close to your residual lung volume as you can. Perform the routine a couple more times. The History. This plan wasn't much different from what my course taught me in 1967. Two years later I was teaching scuba, and one of the tasks I asked of my students was to swim underwater twenty-five yards without taking a breath. Of course, my job was to show how easy the breath-hold swim would be. (Yes, I know: today most instructors don't even think of asking today's scuba newbies to hold their breath for more than the time it takes to make a round trip to the bottom of a pool. That's if they even teach any snorkeling at all. But that was then.) Anyway, here's where the trouble came in. I... More »
Warding Off Vampires While Diving
Hi Doc, A mate and I have been meeting at the local pool each week to practice some static apnea, and my breath-hold time has steadily improved. Occasionally though, I have a week where I can't even match the time I started with a couple of months ago. I realize there are many factors at play here, like how much recent exercise I've had, and how much sleep, alcohol, caffeine, etc., but I've noticed that on the two occasions I've had really poor breath-hold. times it's been after a delicious dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread the night before. I seem to remember a sign in the local hospital asking people coming in for surgery not to eat garlic the night before, and I've often wondered what effect garlic has on my cardiovascular system. Is it a potent substance I should avoid before, say, deep decompression diving? Thanks, PB *** Hi PB, Along with its ability to deter vampires, a large number of health benefits have been claimed for garlic over the years, from lowering cholesterol to fighting cancer. Very few appear to have a legitimate basis; the majority remain inadequately studied or appear ineffective. Here's how the National Institutes of Health Division of Complementary and Alternative Medicine views garlic: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-garlic.html As regards to your questions, garlic has mild anti-clotting activity. Therefore, excessive bleeding may be a concern, so patients preparing for surgery may be asked to refrain from eating it starting a day to a week (depending upon the source) prior to the scheduled procedure. This is of particular concern for those who also are taking other products that may predispose to bleeding. Taken in anything resembling normal concentrations, garlic is not a "potent substance" (other than for the effects eating it has on the breath) and there is no apparent reason for the diver with a normal blood-clotting profile... More »
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