What if The Brain Lacks Oxygen Supply?

The supply of oxygen really ensures the functioning of a person’s brain. Without oxygen, brain cells and their signal-sending neurons cannot function and even die. How long can the brain actually survive without an oxygen supply? Quoting Live Science, Dr Danny Gonzalez, a neurovascular specialist and assistant professor at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, explained the cause.

He said the brain needs at least 20% oxygenated blood. This organ, which only weighs 2% of the body, should always receive oxygen that is pumped by the heart. The function of oxygen is of course to maintain the balance of electrolytes or minerals that carry electrical loads. With equal electrolytes, human nerves will function normally.

Brain Lacks Oxygen Supply

If the electrolytes in the body are not equal, it will interfere with the work of neurons in sending messages. This is also related to cells that need sodium and potassium. During their work, cells need sodium and potassium to pass in and out of their membranes. This flow is regulated in the neuron membrane which functions if the oxygen supply is smooth.

When oxygen is lacking, the pump will malfunction, causing sodium and water to accumulate rapidly. Gonzalez said that some conditions of lack of oxygen can be caused by internal factors such as stroke, head injury or heart attack. Such cases dpdppnipacitan.com can cause the potential for death due to oxygen deficiency to be even higher.

Although a stroke will not cause brain cells to die immediately, the more oxygen supply is lacking, the more severe the brain damage will be.

Gonzalez, referring to the Journal of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), said that a lack of oxygen in a stroke person would not immediately cause death if immediate treatment was carried out.

In a MedlinePlus report from the National Library of Medicine, Gonzalez even said that the results showed that when a person’s blood flow stops, permanent brain damage can occur in just 4 minutes.

Dead Brain Cells

It is possible that if the oxygen supply stops, brain cells will die within minutes. For example, in the case of a heart attack, electrical activity on the surface of the brain can stop within 10-30 seconds.

“Any prolonged anoxic brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation that results in massive cell death increases the risk of a diagnosis of brain death during hospitalization,” Gonzalez said.

Although brain damage due to lack of oxygen supply is predicted within a few minutes, the situation can be different for each person.