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Showing posts with the label oxygen

WHY ALTITUDE AFFECTS YOUR BODY

                                       Most of the problems are caused by lack of oxygen. Because the atmospheric pressure is lower the higher you go, at 2,000 meters above sea level, a given volume of air contains some 20 percent less oxygen, and at 4,000 meters, air contains 40 percent less oxygen. Lack of oxygen affects most of your bodily functions. Your muscles can do less work, your nervous system can take less stress, and your digestive system cannot handle fat as well. Normally when your body needs more oxygen, you automatically breathe more heavily and fill the need. Then why doesn’t this happen when you arrive at a high altitude? Just how your body controls your rate of breathing is a wonder that is not completely understood. But when you exert yourself, heavy breathing is not triggered simply by lack of oxygen. Rather, the carbon dioxide buildup in the blood produced by the muscle activity seems to be a key factor in making you breathe more. You

UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS OF CHILDBIRTH

     The nine-month wait is finally over, and the baby so longed for is about to be born. The expectant mother’s cervix has remained firmly shut, keeping the fetus safely in the womb. But now her cervix thins, softens, and relaxes. The miracle of birth begins.     What is behind the marvelous process of childbirth? Of the several factors involved, two are especially amazing. First, OXYTOCIN , a hormone produced in the brain, is released. Both men and women produce this substance, but a great quantity of it is released in the pregnant mother when labor begins, causing the cervix to dilate and the uterus to contract.        Just how the pituitary gland of the expectant mother knows when to begin releasing this hormones is a mystery. The book incredible Voyage- Exploring the Human Body states: somehow her brain senses that gestation is complete and that it is time for the powerful uterine muscles … to take on their brief but heroic job.        A second factor involved in thi