The term anoxia, of Latin origin, refers to the almost absolute lack of oxygen in the tissues of the body or even in the blood. It is a concept related to hypoxia, which is the lack of oxygen in a body region or throughout the body. It can appear in various areas or environments, such as living tissue, water or even in climatic conditions, for example.
In the case of human beings, and as medicine indicates, there are different causes that cause anoxia. The Histotoxic anoxia occurs when tissues are not able to capture oxygen and secure. The anoxic anoxia, however, unfolds before lung problems.
If we speak of anoxia due to stenosis, the disorder arises from a decrease in blood circulation, while anemic anoxia occurs when certain alterations in the hemoglobin level make it impossible to fix oxygen in the necessary amounts.
It is possible to affirm that the most susceptible tissue to anoxia is the nervous one. If a person is only a few minutes without oxygen, their brain cells can die (cerebral anoxia). It occurs when there is a decrease in blood flow or insufficient hemoglobin and its consequences can be irreversible damage or difficult recovery (brain injury, epilepsy, learning problems or paralysis, among others). Its causes are usually accidents in swimming pools, poor combustion of heaters in a closed environment and other domestic accidents.
One of the most common anoxias is mild anoxia caused by altitude sickness. This malaise affects mountaineers, skiers and tourists who climb a high mountain too fast and people who travel to locations several thousand meters above sea level. Symptoms of altitude sickness include dizziness, fatigue, headaches, feeling dizzy, and nausea.
Anoxia can cause mental disorders
In any of these cases, when the baby does not receive oxygen, its respiratory and circulatory systems become paralyzed, then the body tries to fight against death; But this reaction increases the risk of dying, because the fetus begins to agitate and consume too much oxygen, so the lack of it increases. This inconvenience is known as distressing syndrome of the fetus and can end with death, if specialists do not act quickly.
This traumatic experience is imprinted on the baby as a reaction that is called prototypical, which will later mark the tendency to act in other situations with a similar kind of stress. In some cases, this type of experience remains buried for many years, undermining mental health and conditioning the way in which the person interacts with their environment.
Anoxia during birth can have several consequences, such as: allergies, asthma, epilepsy, and even depression, suicide attempts, panic attacks, phobias or psychosis.