How does coronavirus kill? Clinicians trace a ferocious rampage through the body

Re:How does coronavirus kill? Clinicians trace a ferocious r... by elric on Monday May 11, 2020 @12:06PM (#23143582)

> human body doesn't control for oxygen levels, monitoring instead levels of CO2. So it leads to hypoxia which goes undetected for a some time.

I don't think that's quite correct. Hypercapnia (excess CO2) triggers a reflex to inhale, that's what you feel when you hold your breath for a long time. That reflex doesn't trigger when you're inhaling CO, for instance.

But the body does have sensors to detect oxygen levels in the carotid body (and maybe the aortic body?). These do impact breathing as well, but they do so via the parasympathetic nervous system so you're not as aware of it. IIRC the way this works is poorly understood, and its dysfunction been thought to play a role in sleep apnea.

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Re:How does coronavirus kill? Clinicians trace a ferocious r... by foxyv on Tuesday May 12, 2020 @12:43PM (#23156095)

That would possibly explain why some people have trouble with oxygen deprivation in high altitudes while others inexplicably do not. I wonder if people who see a lot of benefit from breathing techniques like Pranayama and Wim Hoff have issues with that mechanism.

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