Posted by Frank Day (63.201.228.13) on January 16, 2004 at 07:37:34:
In Reply to: Oxygen delivery and tissue ? posted by Juerg on January 15, 2004 at 18:53:06:
Juerg, You misunderstand pulmonary physiology. I guess I should have prefaced my statement with "in healthy people" but even in asthma, the problem is not getting the oxygen into the red cells across the alveoli. In that instance the problem is in the upper airways. A restriction of the upper airways results in turbulent flow. No amount of muscle enhancement will increase blood flow under turbulent flow conditions. All gas exchange and movement at the lowest levels of the lung (alveoli) occurs as a result of diffusion. Diaphragmantic muscle enhancement cannot enhance that.
Other than treating abnormalities (asthma) there is really nothing anyone can do to enhance oxygen delivery to the blood. From a practical point of view, I stand by my statement, in the normal individual, oxygen transfer in the lungs is never the limiter to performance.