If we only need oxygen for cellular respiration, why do we die so quickly when we have no oxygen? Couldn't we just use stored energy?
2006-07-27 15:02:39 · 7 answers · asked by videogameaddict1 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
About CO2, if thats true why is it that if you exhale all air and wait, when you start to breathe again, the first thing you do is INHALE?
2006-07-27 15:08:57 · update #1
Because the brain has no back up energy supplies, and fatty acids do no cross the blood brain barrier. The brain depends exclusively on the oxidative phosphorylation of glucose for energy. If there is no oxygen reaching the brain in 4-5 minutes brain cells start to die. If respiration is not resumed or rescue breaths are not given promptly the brain dies.
The price that we pay for possessing the most complex organ in the history of evolution is its dependency for oxygen and glucose. There is no other way of generating the energy that our brain requires.
2006-07-27 15:58:03 · answer #1 · answered by jorge f 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Oxygen is what generates the energy molecule of our body - ATP. Without oxygen you don't get ATP, without ATP you don't get the catabolism of stored molecules.
A good example is rigor mortis. When a person dies, they become rigor due to the lack of oxygen and ATP production. Therefore, any glycolytic effects of producing stored energy has halted.
The brain is a huge guzzler of oxygen. In four minutes, you will suffer brain damage when deprived of oxygen. CO2 is a waste product produced in the krebs cycle of cellular respiration.
2006-07-27 16:21:18 · answer #2 · answered by Emerson 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The assumption here is that evolution does a perfect job with everything. It don't. Pretty far from it.
Mammals have a hot respiration system that allows us to hold heat in our bodies. We pay a high price for that, but it allowed our phylum to survive an asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs.
Other mammals can hold breath and do well at very deep depths in the ocean for a very long time. We can't do that since there is no survival advantage to do so.
Does that help your fevered brain? I hope so.
2006-07-27 15:09:02 · answer #3 · answered by Andy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, but we can't access our fat reserves that quickly. By breathing oxygen, we get enough energy to carry out the process of life- which includes finding food, water, etc. To keep those functions going, we need a steady supply of oxygen. Without it, we just pass out and our body ceses to function.
2006-07-27 15:07:02 · answer #4 · answered by Michael G 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The constriction of the arteries and/or veins in the neck. the urge to breathe is triggered by rising carbon dioxide levels in the blood rather than diminishing oxygen levels. there is not enough carbon dioxide to cause air hunger, and victims become hypoxic . In any case, the absence of effective remedial action will very rapidly lead to unconsciousness, brain damage and death.
2006-07-27 15:45:02 · answer #5 · answered by chikidii 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because of Co2 which accumulates in our lungs. When you suffucate it isn't that you need oxygen it is because there is to much Co2
2006-07-27 15:06:58 · answer #6 · answered by Snow surfer 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
why are you so fn ignorant
2006-07-27 17:25:09 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋