when panicing-why are people told to breath into a paper bag?

Question

also when they are hypoventilating...they all get hold of a paper bag and tell them to breath in and out, surly there would be a lack of oxygen and they wouldnt be able to breath at all?

confused!

oh yeah, il rate the best answer too...

Answer 1

The medical term for the condition caused by hyperventilation is RESPIRATORY ALKALOSIS. This is caused by the exhalation of excess CO2 due to rapid breathing.

As you breath deeper and quicker your pCO2 drops substantially and CO2 is released from carbonic acid in the blood. This results is an increase in blood pH. Breathing into a bag ensures that you inhale a greater percentage of CO2 and thus balance your blood pH.

Respiratory alkalosis can result in loss of consciousness and coma in worst-case scenarios.

There are two observations based on this that anyone can try for themselves. First, try and hold your breath after a big breath in. Time it. Now, inhale and exhale as deep as you can as rapidly as you can for about 20-30 seconds. Now exhale strongly and hold your breath with empty lungs. You'll almost cetainly be able to beat the other time.

HOWEVER, you must stop immediately after. The reason you have less of a reflex to inhale is because you have lowered your pCO2 which is the measurement the body uses to detect possible lack of oxygen. Your body does not measure oxygen levels only CO2.

It is actually possible to put yourself into a coma this way unless you make yourself inhale. This is why rebreather that filter out CO2 can be deadly if they malfunction. If you run out of oxygen but there is not build up of CO2 you will simply slip into a coma unaware.

The other phenomenon occurs when you vomit. The massive loss of acid from your stomach causes the body to go into METABOLIC ALKALOSIS. The automatic response of the body is to lower you breathing rate so that you accumulate CO2 in the blood and thus counter the alkalosis.

Not that you'll be thinking, wow I'm breathing really slow now, next time you puke. But it's true.

Answer 2

Good lord how confusing for you, here we go. Breathing is regulated by the level of carbon dioxide you have in your blood at any given time. Because we produce carbon dioxide constantly as a waste product following the combustion of carbohydrates the level rises at a steady rate until it triggers breathing imperative at which point you breathe in a fair quantity of oxygen, exchange it for CO2 in your lungs and then expel the CO2.

Panic is another way of describing physiological arousal a state we enter when we perceive a threat, your body becomes prepared to engage in explosive physical activity so that a significant number of physiological changes occur to aid in this. These changes are usually described as symptoms such as increased heart rate, visual disturbance, shaking and trembling etc. One of the things you need to help you engage in explosive activity is a high level of blood oxygen to help combust fuel and you achieve this by rapid shallow breathing.

The consequence of the above is that significant amounts of CO2 are expelled and, after a while, you stop breathing because with blood oxygen levels so high there is no longer a need to breathe. Sufferers find this state, the struggle to take a breath because breathing imperative has shut down; very frightening and the re-absorption of CO2 by re-breathing from a paper bag can be helpful.

The problem is that people become dependent upon the bag and are still hesitant about life and the environments that might induce panic. It has been my experience that learning to breathe from your diaphragm and learning to regulate breathing is a much more elegant solution.

Answer 3

whoever says it's because you're getting too much oxygen and not enough carbon dioxide is on crack... the problem is that when you take in and expel a deep breath, about 95% of the air you have in your body is exchanged. what is left is called the residual volume. What happens when you only take short breaths is that you only exchange only 10% of their air, so basically you are only exchanging the air that's in your mouth and trachea rather than the air that goes down into your lungs where the actual oxygen and carbon dioxide is exchanged. So with short breaths you are end up re-using the air your lungs because it's not getting exchanged so you end up not getting enough oxygen for your body to function so you pass out.

Hence the bag...if you tell someone to inflate and deflate the bag completely then they get a deeper breath helping to keep them from passing out...it's not a magic trick or anything, it's just to aid them in taking deep breaths to get the appropriate amount of oxygen exchange....

Answer 4

When someone panics they breathe in too quickly and therefore take in too much oxygen. Breathing into a paper bag means that the oxegen in the air is reduced, and the carbon dioxide (which they breathe out) is increased. This allows them to take in a normal amount of oxygen.

Answer 5

Have you tried it ??

I've been doing it a lot lately.

It's like drinking from a plastic bottle. If you keep drinking and don't lower the bottle the sides cave in and it's almost impossible to get anymore out of it.
This is what happens your lungs. When you panic you stop breating regularlary and it gets harded as you continue to panic.

When you inhale from the brown paper bag the sides cave and the only way to fix it is to exhale into the bag again. This expands the bag and calms you down as you know that the feeling of pressure can be relieved by exhalation after every inhalation

Answer 6

it's mainly because it limits the amount of air the person is breathing in.

when hyperventilating, your body takes deeper and deeper breaths because it feels it's not getting enough oxygen. Breathing into a paper bag limits and regulates the volume of air that's allowed to get in, which then regulates the movement of the muscles and ribcage, restoring some kind of normality from which the person can start to breathe properly on their own.

Also, if the person is concentrating on holding the paper bag, and concentrating on breathing normally, it distracts them from the business of panicking.

Answer 7

Its to do with the carbon dioxide/ oxygen ratio.
whilst hyperventilating your body is getting more carbon dioxide than oxygen which is what causes the temporary paralysis. Breathing into the paper bag helps to right the balance and also helps you to concentrate on your breathing thus getting more oxygen into your body.

Answer 8

the thing is that they are hyperventilating as in breathing really quickly, as a fear response, so they have too much oxygen going into the blood but it feels to the as if they are not getting enough oxygen so they hyperventilate more. the paper bag help them control their breathing and prevents them from taking in too much oxygen.

Answer 9

It normally takes about 10 to 20 Min's but can take longer. Do it till you feel calm. It does work. You breath in and out slowly into the bag. Hold it tightly around your mouth so all the air goes in the bag and doesn't escape.

Answer 10

The problem is not lack of oxygen, it's lack of carbon dioxide. Breathing into a paper bag helps you reabsorb the carbon dioxide you're exhaling.