Carbon Dioxide

Vital functions
- Offloading of oxygen from the blood to be used by the cells
- The dilation of the smooth muscle in the walls of the airways and blood vessels
- The regulation of blood pH.

Links to this note

Breath - The New Science of a Lost Art

    -   oxygen is delivered to the hungry cells and leaves "room" empty for [Carbon Dioxide](/t/carbon-dioxide/) to embark

        -   blood cells in the veins carry more [Carbon Dioxide](/t/carbon-dioxide/) -&gt; blue color

    -   [Carbon Dioxide](/t/carbon-dioxide/)

        -   to much [Carbon Dioxide](/t/carbon-dioxide/) leaves the body

        -   they tell the body how to breathe, not by the amount of oxygen but by the level of [Carbon Dioxide](/t/carbon-dioxide/) in our body

        -   the goal is to make the chemoreceptors wide so they get "used" to high amount of [Carbon Dioxide](/t/carbon-dioxide/)

            -   they have **trained** their chemoreceptors to adapt to extreme fluctuations in [Carbon Dioxide](/t/carbon-dioxide/) without panic

    -   increase of [Carbon Dioxide](/t/carbon-dioxide/) levels has effect on health improvements

Central Chemoreceptors

monitor changes of Carbon Dioxide levels and send alarm signals to the brain, telling the lungs to breathe faster and more deeply

when we’re breathing too quickly, the receptors tell the body to breathe more slowly to increase Carbon Dioxide levels
    -   it it the ability to adapt to different levels of [Carbon Dioxide](/t/carbon-dioxide/) and oxygen that helped humans colonize at different (and high) altitudes