Lorrain-Smith Effect
The Lorrain-Smith effect is damage to the lungs that is caused by the long-term exposure to increased oxygen partial pressure. It is a partial form of oxygen toxicosis . The effect was named after the British doctor James Lorrain Smith (1862–1931).
When diving , the lungs are exposed to a higher pressure than above the surface of the water. When the oxygen is absorbed from the air , the high partial pressure of oxygen causes the pulmonary alveoli ( alveoli ) and the surfactant to swell . This causes the alveoli to collapse and their function is disturbed. As a result, there is a reduced gas exchange between breathing air and blood circulation , with prolonged exposure to the excessively high oxygen partial pressure, harmful consequences become noticeable, which are referred to as the Lorrain-Smith effect or pulmonary damage from hyperbaric oxygen. Symptoms for this are nausea, tiredness, poor orientation and performance, dizziness, low breathing rate , increased breathing resistance , lung pain and tightness in the chest area.
In contrast to the Paul Bert effect, all of these symptoms only occur after long-term exposure to oxygen under high pressure. Divers (especially divers who use nitrox or trimix mixtures) and patients of hyperbaric medicine are at particular risk from the Treatment in an oxygen pressure chamber .
Individual evidence
- ↑ JAMES LORRAIN SMITH, MA, MD, LL.D., D.Sc. FRCPEd., FRS, FRSEd. In: British medical journal. Volume 1, Number 3669, May 1931, pp. 773-776, ISSN 0007-1447 . PMID 20776155 . PMC 2314879 (free full text).
- ↑ Obituary Notice: James Lorrain Smith (1862-1931). In: The Biochemical journal . Volume 25, Number 6, 1931, pp. 1849-1850, ISSN 0264-6021 . PMID 16744752 . PMC 1260817 (free full text).