THERE is exciting news out of Norway that scuba divers and all lovers of the sea will be interested in. Since the development of diving, the threat of decompression sickness, also known as the bends, has hung over the heads of all who work or explore underwater. Recently, scientists have taken giant strides in understanding what is actually happening in the human body, and appropriate life-saving responses can now be developed. Below is an edited version of an article that first appeared in Norwegian SciTech News by Anne Sliper Midling. You can find the full article on their website.
“Decompression sickness or DCS has been a known condition for more than a century. The disease — sometimes referred to as the bends — occurs when a diver returns to the surface too fast. Gas bubbles form in the blood and tissues due to decreasing water pressure in the ascent. Some divers become paralyzed for life. Others get skin rashes or a little pain in their joints. The condition can be fatal.
“No medical test is available that can reveal whether you have the disease or not. Until now. The discovery is the first step in developing a blood test that can make it easier to check if someone has DCS. To date, diagnosis and treatment are based only on symptoms. No one really knows when the treatment is good enough.
“ ‘Decompression sickness often occurs in adventurous recreational divers,’ says Ingrid Eftedal, a senior scientist at NTNU’s Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging. She is one of Norway’s few experts on what happens to the human body under water. Until now, researchers haven’t managed to describe in detail the biological changes that occur in DCS. Now Eftedal and a team from Malta have made a major breakthrough. ‘DCS is simply the immune system going crazy and causing an inflammatory condition in the body,’ says Eftedal.
“A major finding was that the white blood cell activity of the innate immune system became strongly activated. These blood cells are the first line of defense in the body’s immune system, and their activation causes inflammation in divers who are afflicted. The finding could make it possible to develop a blood test that can diagnose the disease. ‘Then we’ll be able to catch people who have a mild variant of DCS, and we’ll also be able to check when they’ve completed treatment,’ says Eftedal.
“The study showed that DCS activates some of the most primitive body defense mechanisms carried out by certain white blood cells.
“ ‘In the case of decompression sickness, something happens that’s reminiscent of autoimmune diseases such as arthritis. The immune system misunderstands. It’s conceivable that future treatment could also involve immunoregulatory drugs,’ says Eftedal.
“An earlier survey by Eftedal of healthy, experienced divers who regularly do recreational diving likewise showed changes in the activity of white blood cells during diving, even when the divers did not feel any discomfort or show symptoms of DCS.”
Thanks to this research, we know more about the bends than ever before, and scientists now have the keys to unlock more doors rapidly. One of the greatest threats to divers is about to become a lot less threatening.
BC Cook, PhD lived on Saipan and has taught history for 20 years. He currently resides on the mainland U.S.
BC Cook
