12.04.2012

cyanosis

Cyanosis: a blueish discoloration of the skin (here, the fingers, toes and lips) resulting from poor circulation or inadequate oxygenation of the blood.

Cyanosis: what happens when my son Calvin doesn't breathe for over a minute during grand mal convulsive seizures that last upwards of three minutes.

cyanosis

2 comments:

  1. I apologize for the silly question, but do you know why this happens? My daughter turned blue during her first seizure, but that has never happened since, even with seizures that appeared as severe and lasted as long. And I just held my breath for more than one minute as an admittedly non-scientific test, and I did not turn blue. Clearly, it's not just the stopped breathing that does it. What is it about seizures that causes cyanosis?

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  2. if i understand it correctly it is due to the body's emergency response to bring oxygen to the vital organs and away from the extremities. if the torso is blue then it is more dire. fingers and toes, not to worry too much "they" say.

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