Don your wetsuit, grab your oxygen tank, and securely fasten your mask, because this week we’re going on our deepest dive yet. In this episode, we’re plumbing the depths of decompression sickness, aka the bends, to get a better handle on how gases and pressure can be so very deadly. We start out with a bit of Gases 101, examining how decompression sickness occurs and why it affects your body in the ways it does. Next, we explore the not-so-distant history of this disease, a history that includes far more tales of bridge engineering than it does of SCUBA diving (but just as fascinating). Finally, we rise to the surface, but not too quickly, with a look at decompression sickness around the world today. Tune in to hear the highs, the lows, and everything in between of this industrial era disease, and feel free to leave your decompression schedule at home.
| History | Biology |
| Phillips, John L. The bends: compressed air in the history of science, diving, and engineering. Yale University Press, 1998. | Mahon, R.T. and Regis, D.P., 2011. Decompression and decompression sickness. Comprehensive Physiology, 4(3), pp.1157-1175. |
| Ninokawa, Scott, and Kristen Nordham. “Discovery of caisson disease: a dive into the history of decompression sickness.” Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings. Vol. 35. No. 1. Taylor & Francis, 2022. | Neuman, T.S., 2002. Arterial gas embolism and decompression sickness. Physiology, 17(2), pp.77-81. |
| How are Underwater Structures Built? | Vann, R.D., Butler, F.K., Mitchell, S.J. and Moon, R.E., 2011. Decompression illness. The Lancet, 377(9760), pp.153-164. |
| Moon, R., Camporesi, E. and Kisslo, J., 1989. Patent foramen ovale and decompression sickness in divers. The Lancet, 333(8637), pp.513-514. | |
| Howle, L.E., Weber, P.W., Hada, E.A., Vann, R.D. and Denoble, P.J., 2017. The probability and severity of decompression sickness. PLoS One, 12(3), p.e0172665. | |
| Moore, M.J. and Early, G.A., 2004. Cumulative sperm whale bone damage and the bends. Science, 306(5705), pp.2215-2215. | |
| Fernández, A., Sierra, E., Díaz-Delgado, J., Sacchini, S., Sánchez-Paz, Y., Suárez-Santana, C., Arregui, M., Arbelo, M. and Bernaldo de Quirós, Y., 2017. Deadly acute decompression sickness in Risso’s dolphins. Scientific Reports, 7(1), pp.1-9. | |
| Seymour, R.S., 1974. How sea snakes may avoid the bends. Nature, 250(5466), pp.489-490. | |
| García-Párraga, D., Crespo-Picazo, J.L., De Quirós, Y.B., Cervera, V., Martí-Bonmati, L., Díaz-Delgado, J., Arbelo, M., Moore, M.J., Jepson, P.D. and Fernández, A., 2014. Decompression sickness (‘the bends’) in sea turtles. Diseases of aquatic organisms, 111(3), pp.191-205. | |
| Buzzacott, P., Schiller, D., Crain, J. and Denoble, P.J., 2018. Epidemiology of morbidity and mortality in US and Canadian recreational scuba diving. Public Health, 155, pp.62-68. | |
| Buzzacott, P., Schiller, D., Crain, J. and Denoble, P.J., 2018. Epidemiology of morbidity and mortality in US and Canadian recreational scuba diving. Public Health, 155, pp.62-68. | |
| Moon, R.E., 2014. Hyperbaric oxygen treatment for decompression sickness. Undersea Hyperb Med, 41(2), pp.151-7. |
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