Description should include the following:
- Hyperventilation is the excessive rate and depth of respiration, leading to abnormal loss of carbon dioxide from the blood.
- This condition occurs more often among pilots than is generally recognized.
- In such cases, increased breathing rate and anxiety further aggravate the problem.
- Hyperventilation can lead to unconsciousness due to the respiratory system’s overriding mechanism to regain control of breathing.
PLT332