Long term effects of diving?

[sillygrendel]

Has anyone here read

"Long term effects of sport diving?"

Basically they say that long term rec diving may impair:

mental ability
lung function
nervous system
hearing
eysight

Reading it makes you think that after many years of diving you may be deaf, dumb, blind, unable to do 2+2 and be unable to breathe...

(Yes... I have someone who really doesn't want me to dive and they keep coming up with things. The first one was that I would be eaten by sharks but I have to admit this does a bit better ut: I'm starting to get sick of being harassed.)

Can anyone out there with experience in the diving medicine literature comment on this? More than anecdotal evidence anyway. I've met people who have been diving for many years and seem to be sharp and in control.

 

[Waterlover]

what'd u say? I can't see to read it!!S@@t forgot where I put my Glasses Huh? did you say something I can't hear ya..hmmm 1+1 could make 3 huh?.

 

[Bob3]

http://www.scuba-doc.com/LTE.htm

It seems to be a matter of degree; the more "intense" the diving (both depth & duration) the more problems will pop up down the road.
Once you start counting your bottom time by years instead of hours, it's time to think about retirement.

 

[scubadoc]

Hello 'sillygrendel':

There is much evidence for negative effects of long-term deep diving (one must assume that this also means 'sport divers' who dive deeply) include dysbaric osteonecrosis, decreased pulmonary function due to airway narrowing, hearing loss, and liver changes. There are studies that suggest neurologic effects of diving, but these studies have been criticized for flaws in design. Damaged cells similar to those found after exposure to ionizing radiation have been observed, but there are no controlled studies to verify that diving caused the cell damage. The severity of the effects and the point at which they manifest themselves in deep divers appears to be established.

What remains unknown is the point at which these changes occur in sports divers and at what depths and times. Because no definitive scientific information is available, it can only be speculated that air bubbles will always travel to end organs, affecting them in some manner.

There have been reports of encephalopathy, impairment of cognitive function, and abnormal EEGs using this rationale as an explanation. However, the Divers Alert Network has stated: "The supposition of any damage to the brain rests on the occurrence of so called silent bubbles occurring in the blood or brain and spinal cord. That such bubbles do exist has been well demonstrated by Doppler technology in blood and tissue studies of animals' spinal cords. Whether or not, however, these silent bubbles are the cause of changes in the brain is unproved. Divers should not be unduly concerned about {the Lancet study}. More research is needed, but the world is filled with many divers who have been diving for over 40 years who show no unusual deterioration in their abilities which would affect their quality of life...Certainly, [the study's] results should not be discounted. However, in the absence of neurological decompression illness, many other studies in which divers were compared with non divers, have failed to demonstrate that diving causes long-term neurological impairment or any functional abnormalities."

There are numerous references to ill effects of diving that are not anecdotal. These can be seen at http://www.scuba doc.com/LTE.htm#References .

The upshot of all this is that you should not stop diving - but should dive safely in an informed fashion, minimizing all possible risk factors.

Good things!
scubadoc (40 year diver - Doh!)
http://www.scuba-doc.com/LTE.pdf

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

scubadoc once bubbled...
There is much evidence for negative effects of long-term deep diving ...

...There are studies that suggest neurologic effects of diving

...there have been reports of encephalopathy, impairment of cognitive function, and abnormal EEGs using this rationale as an explanation

This would explain a lot of the discourse that appears on this board. :boom:

Marc

 

[sillygrendel]

Thats what I read!

Slowly fizzles you up from the inside, eh?

Good thing to know... Anyone here have any personal experience with this??

 

[John Reinertson]

Most of my fizzling from the inside I have been able to attribute to Amstel or Labatt's, depending on latitude.

There are no good controlled studies showing sport divers to be at risk of dementia from their diving.

Studies on commercial divers do show increased rates of dysbaric osteonecrosis, but these are far more common in saturation and very deep divers, and are more common in higher-risk profiles.

The best description of diving risk came from a friend who said diving was like skiing. There are bunny slopes and expert runs, and injuries are more common in those who ski aggressively and on higher risk terrain.

The risks are modest for those who dive within recreational limits with an appropriate safety factor.
The risks rise as you get more aggressive or exotic.

For those of us who enjoy the shallows and dive conservatively, diving is probably safer than the pizza and beer I consume that evening.

See you underwater..
(Or fizzing peacefully at the restaurant afterward)

John

 

[sillygrendel]

Thank you for the reply.

That was my take home lesson from that paper as well. If you dove conservatively and avoided the sub-clinical DCS you were at very low risk for all of those problems.

That being said I find the dangers involved in diving to be sort of interesting becuase most of them aren't visible.

I've been rock climbing for a long time and the dangers there are pretty tangible. Like splatting on the ground. The long term problems there are things like arthritic hands, but mostly muscular skeletal problems.

I haven't decided yet if because people can't actually see the danger it makes them more or less careful.