Hello! I have been a doctor for 21 years. My name is Georgy Olegovich Sapego. Today I will tell you about speech without breathing.
Some people believe that if a person can speak, then he is not suffocating. It seems that this stupidity came from somewhere from the topic about choking on a piece of food. There really is a foreign body stuck in the larynx, and it is impossible to speak.
In fact, a person can speak without breathing at all.
Breathing is the absorption of oxygen by the body and the release of carbon dioxide. Our usual inhalation is about two glasses of air.
When we inhale, the air first passes through the nose, throat and bronchi. It is there that our voice is formed, but there is no gas exchange in these places. Oxygen is not absorbed there, and carbon dioxide is not emitted. These places are combined into the so-called anatomical dead space. Its volume is about a third of the usual inhalation.
Normal speech requires an average of 50 milliliters of air per syllable. That is, a person can say a few words only due to the movement of air in dead space. Air can wiggle back and forth in the airways and not reach the alveoli, where oxygen is absorbed. So suffocation will begin very quickly.
After a normal exhalation, a person can still squeeze out a certain reserve volume of air. So if you try, you will be able to speak without even inhaling a drop.
Therefore, people in intensive care sometimes have a tube inserted down their throats just because of the rapid change in carbon dioxide and oxygen levels. That is, even at the moment when they speak normally and do not complain much.
If you are dealing with people who have shortness of breath, then do not wait for them to stop talking. Seek medical attention if such a person has a rapid breathing rate, he begins to lean in front of him with his hands, or if you can see how he strains his muscles to breathe.
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