Causes of Suffocation
Asphyxiation is a pathophysiological state of a severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body tissues, usually deprived of breathing air. There are several causes for asphyxia, including suffocation and choking. Suffocation refers to oxygen deprivation by mechanical means such as smothering or choking. In contrast, choking describes a case where the cause of the suffocation is not external to the subject.
Most cases of choking occur when an object or food is lodged in the trachea (windpipe), thus blocking airflow into the lungs, while smothering occurs when a person’s air supply is blocked by some external means as covering their nose and mouth with a cloth. Of all the methods of suicide, wrist cutting suffocation is the third most common in England and Wales, being 3.2% in both sexes.
what happens during suffocation:
In normal conditions, the muscles of the neck and chest contract every 5 to 15 seconds. This contraction creates a negative pressure that keeps the upper airway (trachea) open during breathing. These respiratory efforts prevent any food, liquid, or foreign objects from entering your windpipe.
In short, you can say they keep you alive. During suffocation, this mechanism does not work as oxygen is cut off from reaching vital parts of your body due to carbon dioxide overload or blockage of the mouth and nose(because of a plastic bag), which eventually leads to death if measures are not taken immediately.
Background:
Carbon dioxide is a waste gas produced by human cells when they metabolize foodstuffs that have been eaten. The primary function of the cardiovascular system is to transport this waste gas, in the form of bicarbonate ions, from where it is made (i.e., inside cells) to sites where it is disposed of (i.e., the lungs and outside the body via expiration). Usually, about 10% of carbon dioxide is exhaled through the respiratory system in expired air.
The brain regulates breathing so that people do not readily breathe in more than they need or exhale more than they need; most people will live 2-3 times per minute, and a healthy adult at rest might produce approximately 0.5 liters of carbon dioxide per minute!
Carbon dioxide acts as an acid in solution and reacts with water to turn into carbonic acid.
This is the chemical reaction that occurs when a soft drink, such as cola sups, is exposed to air and left uncovered in a glass for a while. The Cola absorbs some water from the air and forms Carbonic Acid, which then reacts with ions on the glass, causing deposits of soda limescale which you see on your glass.
Also, carbon dioxide in excess makes it very difficult for blood to carry oxygen around the body. To counter this effect, the breathing rate increases so that more gas exchange can occur between inhaled lung gases and exhaled CO 2 – high levels of C02 lead to breathlessness through an increase in breathing rate!
Carbon dioxide has been used as a method of execution in gas chambers.
To cause death, the gas is typically generated by opening a valve on top of a canister containing sodium cyanide or potassium cyanide. It is also possible to use carbon dioxide in its liquid form during execution by direct infusion into the blood through a vein.
Suffocating suffocation means blocking air from entering the body and is caused mainly when someone presses their mouth and nose firmly around another’s mouth and nose; pressing down on chest with hands; blocking throat with thumbs, writings, etc..otherwise covering the head with a plastic bag for few minutes it can lead to unconsciousness and complete stoppage of breathing (apnoea).
Asphyxiation is a form of suffocation:
Both words refer to a state in which oxygen cannot enter the bloodstream, causing cells to die from lack of oxygen. In asphyxia, breathing stops for longer than it should because something blocks air from entering the lungs.
In these cases, death occurs quickly because vital organs do not receive enough oxygen to function correctly. In contrast, in most cases of suffocation, breathing does not stop entirely but continues at a slow rate, and death occurs more slowly due to lowered oxygen levels in the blood and brain tissues.
Asphyxiation is caused when a person’s airways are blocked, so breathing in oxygen is impossible. The blockage may be due to choking, vomiting, strangulation, or fluid getting into the person’s throat.
Suffocation occurs when breathing in oxygen is halted by the obstruction of either or both of the respiratory passages. It can be caused by anaphylaxis, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), drowning, hanging, turncoat (rolling over during sleep), and scuba diving.
A man who executed his suicide by stuffing a plastic bag on his head, causing suffocation, died after 22 minutes because he did not use helium gas which makes the body die faster; helium gas speeds up death compared with suffocating with plastic bags or smothering with a pillow.
Suffocation is caused by blocking the flow of air into and out of your lungs. Suffocations can either be acute—meaning they occur suddenly and immediately, such as when someone chokes on food—or chronic, meaning they happen slowly over time, like in some cases where a person develops sleep apnea or an illness that restricts the mouth and throat area (such as cancer).
One type of suffocation is positional asphyxia, which occurs when someone who’s passed out from drinking alcohol, drugs, etc., has their face pressed up against something for too long. Depending on how long it lasts, this condition may cause death as quickly as hours after the suffocation or as long as days later.
Types of asphyxia:
1. Positional asphyxia
2. Mechanical asphyxia
3. Aspiration asphyxia
4. Chemical/gas asphyxia
5a. Carbon monoxide poisoning
6b. Chlorine gas poisoning
7c, Nitrogen oxides poisoning or inhalation asthma is a long-term medical condition where the airways become inflamed and narrow, making it difficult to breathe. The main symptoms of asthma include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. It can be triggered by various factors such as allergens (e.g., dust mites), exercise, cold air, or irritants in the environment (including solid smells). Most children with asthma have an inherited tendency to develop allergies.
Inhalation of hydrofluoric acid from a domestic supply was attempted in this case, probably being poured through a funnel into a plastic bag that covered the head. This created severe chemical pneumonitis with acute pulmonary edema and adult respiratory distress syndrome, which progressed to bronchopneumonia and multiorgan failure with no improvement despite mechanical ventilation for at least 12 days.
Suffocation death symptoms:
The primary cause of death by suffocation is oxygen deprivation. When you cannot breathe, your body will begin to lose consciousness within 10 seconds. There
Are other symptoms that accompany suffocation depending upon the method used for asphyxiation. For example, strangulation may result in bruising around the neck and gagging. Asphyxiation caused by airway obstruction, such as choking on food or inhaling vomit, may lead to vomiting and coughing up blood if airways are completely blocked during the act of drowning.
Breathing:
Breathing allows gas exchange between organism and environment, so it is required for the life process…it occurs mainly because of negative pressure inside alveoli producing expansion force sucking atmospheric air into alveolus through pores of respiratory membrane.