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 The no decompression limit (NDL) or no stop time, is the interval that a diver may theoretically spend at a given depth without having to perform decompression stops. The NDL helps divers plan dives so that they can stay at a given depth and ascend without stopping while avoiding unacceptable risk of decompression sickness. The NDL is a theoretical time obtained by calculating inert gas uptake and release in the body, using a model such as the Bühlmann decompression algorithm. Although the science of calculating these limits has been refined over the last century, there is still much that is