Blood pressure when diving

[Bazzer69]

I am a newly certified OW PADI and this is my first post to the forum. I've been lurking here for a while and I must say I've picked up a lot of useful information
My curiosity has been aroused by the question of blood pressure whilst diving, does it remain the same whilst diving as on the surface given the same workload? I'm assuming it does, but maybe I'm wrong. Your answers would be greatly appreciated.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I don't know of anyone who has taken their blood pressure at depth. Perhaps it has been done in a chamber. I'll be looking for an informed response along with you, Bazzser69
DIvemasterDennis

 

[Tessunderwater]

Your heart rate slows when you are in the water as part of the mammalian response to move body heat to your core. As a result, the blood pressure should decrease as well. This will change from diver to diver but I wouldn't be surprised if one day at dema someone came out with a dive computer that monitored vitals as well as everything else.

 

[GrandpaScuba]

The place to ask this question is at dan.org, if anyone has tested this, DAN has.

 

[Bazzer69]

My only personal experience is I am very warm diving at La Jolla Shores at the moment with water temps of 71-72f ! I certainly was not cold in my semi dry suit.
Maybe the temps are high because of the massive schools of anchovies swimming around. TIC of course


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[knotical]

Neat question.

Speculation: Since your heart doesn't have to overcome gravity to move your blood around, as it does if you are standing on the shore, it seems your heart should not have to work as hard and the pressure could be lower.

I too look forward to an informed response - preferably with a reliable source/reference.

 

[boulderjohn]

As I understand it, diving plays a real game with blood pressure, with a number of effects. this Wikipedia article has a little bit of information. To put it simply, there are forces at work in the dive that are causing an increase in blood pressure, and your body reacts by trying to lower blood pressure. One of the effects of this is that the body reduces blood volume by releasing water, which has a well known effect and is a good reason to own your own wet suit.

 

[flots am]

I am a newly certified OW PADI and this is my first post to the forum. I've been lurking here for a while and I must say I've picked up a lot of useful information
My curiosity has been aroused by the question of blood pressure whilst diving, does it remain the same whilst diving as on the surface given the same workload? I'm assuming it does, but maybe I'm wrong. Your answers would be greatly appreciated.

If you're asking about BP because you're on medication to control it, check out the Diver's Alert Network (DAN) website.

Some classes of BP medication don't play well with SCUBA diving because of their effect on the ability to compensate for the pressure differential between "underwater" and "above water" when surfacing, as well as various workloads.

If you're just curious about what happens to BP underwater, it's an interesting question and I have no idea what the answer is.

flots

 

[TSandM]

I found a study where they compared heart rate and blood pressure at varying workloads, both immersed and dry, and found that blood pressure was higher for all workloads when immersed. This actually makes some sense; water is generally cold compared with body temperature, causing skin vasoconstriction and centralization of volume. Cold is also generally perceived as a stress, causing increased adrenaline.

[abstract] COMPARING WORKLOAD, BLOOD PRESSURE, OXYGEN-UPTAKE AND HEART RATE OF IMMERSED TO NON-IMMERSED PERSON

 

[Bazzer69]

Perhaps this could explain higher rates of heart attacks in scuba than in other sports? But only if you are cold. I am more interested in the effect of the higher pressures on the body at depth which is not much in the above test in a swimming pool at shallow depths


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk