Decompression sickness DCS, and there is some evidence that marine mammals such as cetaceans and seals may also be affected. AW Carlsen has suggested that the presence of a right-left shunt in the reptilian heart may account for the predisposition in the same way as a patent foramen ovale does in humans. Decompression sickness Decompression sickness (DCS; also known as divers' disease, the bends, aerobullosis, or caisson disease) describes a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurisation. DCS most commonly refers to problems arising from underwater diving decompression (i.e., during ascent), but may
Decompression practice to three minutes long. A study by Divers Alert Network in 2004 suggests that addition of a deep (c. 15 m) as well as a shallow (c. 6 m) safety stop to a theoretically no-stop ascent will significantly reduce decompression stress indicated by precordial doppler detected bubble (PDDB) levels. The authors associate this with gas exchange in fast tissues such as the spinal cord and consider that an additional deep safety stop may reduce the risk of spinal cord decompression sickness in recreational diving. A follow-up study found that the optimum duration for the deep safety stop under the experimental