Will a person suffocate if their inner ears are destroyed?

[LisaLiel]

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2011/01/inner-ear-damge-linked-to-breathing-difficulty-in-mammals/1#.VSr7j_nF98F

http://m.oxfordmedicine.com/mobile/view/10.1093/med/9780198566342.001.0001/med-9780198566342-chapter-8

[LisaLiel]

I ask because this article is really bothering me since my bro had meningitis a few weeks ago and he has inner ear damage. He's 15.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2011/01/inner-ear-damge-linked-to-breathing-difficulty-in-mammals/1#.VSsNUvnF98E

Edited April 13, 2015 by LisaLiel

[StringJunky]

That study is looking for possible causes of SIDS and I think it's speculating that, in the very, very young, the receptors that detect carbon dioxide levels are not yet developed in the areas where a more developed human performs this task. It suggests, at this period in development, that this task is largely performed by vestibular hairs in the inner ear until the main pathways are developed. From your link:

 

 

In SIDS cases, infants may suffer inner ear damage during birth and then have a lowered response to increased carbon dioxide levels in the air, Rubens suggests, during a period of vulnerability before the brain creates new pathways to provide this respiratory response. He plans further studies to reproduce conditions linked to crib death, face-down sleeping, cigarette smoke and other factors, in animals with damaged inner ears.

Your brother is more developed than that so I don't think it applies to him. Consult a doctor if you still feel doubt.

Edited April 13, 2015 by StringJunky

[hypervalent_iodine]

!

Moderator Note

LisaLiel, I have merged your two threads on this. Please stick to one thread per topic.

[LisaLiel]

I'm hoping so

I read some journals which say that chemoreceptors in the brain are active in a fetus

So if thats the case it would imply the inner ears are still required

[LisaLiel]

thoughts?

[Acme]

thoughts?

Damage is one thing, but what would destroy a person's inner ear? The devil is in the details.

[pavelcherepan]

Damage is one thing, but what would destroy a person's inner ear? The devil is in the details.

 

Sudden pressure change?

 

EDIT: For example Labyrinthitis

 

 

Labyrinthitis is usually caused by a virus, but it can also arise from bacterial infection, head injury, extreme stress, an allergy

<...>

This can also be brought on by pressure changes such as those experienced while flying or scuba diving.

Edited April 16, 2015 by pavelcherepan

[Acme]

Sudden pressure change?

Certainly that could burst the ear drums, but the inner ear has a lot of parts and 'destroy' is a rather complete operation particularly in comparison to the damage mentioned in the one article Lisa linked to about SIDS. Have you any evidence that burst ear drums cause suffocation? Moreover that one article is about infants and 'person' as used in the title is a rather vague delineator.

 

The other article does not involve suffocation and in fact says "Disturbances in cardiovascular and respiratory regulation are only prominent in patients in the acute phase of peripheral vestibular dysfunction, and dissipate rapidly as compensation occurs." source

 

As it is, I think it's incumbent on Lisa to clarify the issues.

.

Your edit pavelcherepan makes no mention of suffocation.

[pavelcherepan]

Your edit pavelcherepan makes no mention of suffocation.

 

I wasn't trying to discuss suffocation, I haven't seen any evidence so far to support it. I'll search a bit more to make sure. Just attempting to answer this:

 

Damage is one thing, but what would destroy a person's inner ear? The devil is in the details.

[Acme]

Try a web search of this thread's title.

[pavelcherepan]

Your edit pavelcherepan makes no mention of suffocation.

 

How about this:

 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306452213007550

 

 

A prior study identified an association between hearing suppression on the newborn hearing test and subsequent death from SIDS.

<...>

A following study identified that inner ear dysfunction precipitates a marked suppression of the hypercapnic ventilatory response (HCVR). Failure of arousal has been proposed to be a key component in SIDS.

<...>

The findings support the theory that inner ear dysfunction could be relevant in the pathophysiology of SIDS. The inner ear appears to play a key role in arousal from suffocating gas mixtures that has not been previously identified.

[StringJunky]

 

 

I'm hoping so

I read some journals which say that chemoreceptors in the brain are active in a fetus

So if thats the case it would imply the inner ears are still required

Not in a more mature human. Other receptors later develop in other sites in major blood vessels, like the aorta. The vulnerable period is before these two areas have developed. Your brother is way passed this stage.

Edited April 16, 2015 by StringJunky

[LisaLiel]

The aorta isn't responsible for waking someone up when carbon dioxide levels get high.

[Acme]

... Consult a doctor if you still feel doubt.

Exactly! +1 Consulting forums on medical questions is a monumental and suffocating waste of everyone's time.

[StringJunky]

The aorta isn't responsible for waking someone up when carbon dioxide levels get high.

There are chemoreceptors in the aorta.and somewhere else, which name escapes me atm.. As Acme has just prompted; see a doctor. It's not our place to reassure you. as you clearly have doubts.

[LisaLiel]

There are carotid chemoreceptors and also central chemoreceptors in the brain.

 

But according to the article, if the inner ear is destroyed, then for some reason the other chemoreceptors in the brain don't count and there won't be any response to increased CO2.

[Acme]

There are carotid chemoreceptors and also central chemoreceptors in the brain.

 

But according to the article, if the inner ear is destroyed, then for some reason the other chemoreceptors in the brain don't count and there won't be any response to increased CO2.

Again, that has to do with infants and you said your brother was 15. If he was going to suffocate in his sleep he would have already done so. Consult a doctor and stop the dissembling.

[LisaLiel]

The study focused on infants but that doesn't mean this could not affect adults too.

 

Please provide evidence that central (brainstem) and peripheral chemoreceptors are inactive in babies.

Edited April 16, 2015 by LisaLiel

[Acme]

The study focused on infants but that doesn't mean this could not affect adults too.

 

Please provide evidence that central (brainstem) and peripheral chemoreceptors are inactive in babies.

Consult a medical professional before your brother suffocates in his sleep.

[LisaLiel]

You still haven't provided evidence that the other chemoreceptors in the brain (besides from the ones in the inner ear) are inactive in babies.

Edited April 16, 2015 by LisaLiel

[Acme]

You still haven't provided evidence that the other chemoreceptors in the brain (besides from the ones in the inner ear) are inactive in babies.

Consult a medical professional before you brother suffocates in his sleep.

[StringJunky]

You still haven't provided evidence that the other chemoreceptors in the brain (besides from the ones in the inner ear) are inactive in babies.

See a doctor. I've no wish to be pushed out of my depth on medical stuff.

[LisaLiel]

Well you can't really book an appointment just to ask a question here that's why I'm asking on these kinds of sites.

[Acme]

Well you can't really book an appointment just to ask a question here that's why I'm asking on these kinds of sites.

And we have told you that we're not qualified to answer so stop asking. If your brother can hear then his inner ears aren't destroyed. We may just as well speculate that a succubus can suffocate a sleeping person as destroyed inner ears.