Death by Nitrogen

[martinbayer]

In the last day or two (depending on which time zone you reside in) there have been not one but two newsworthy (at least in the United States) deaths caused by forced Nitrogen inhalation, one of an American woman who committed suicide in a custom designed pod in a wooded area of Switzerland (shades of Soilent Green there...), and one of a death row inmate in an Alabama execution chamber. In the first case, the death was described as "peaceful", whereas in the latter case, the procedure was described as "a controversial method critics say is tantamount to torture where the victim shook and trembled on a gurney for about two minutes, with his body at times pulling against restraints", and the shaking and trembling being followed by about six minutes of periodic gulping breaths before he became still. Please note that this is NOT about trying to start any ethical discussion, but merely understanding the discrepancy in the clinical description of both cases - e.g. could there be any technical/physiological/medical factors that would potentially make a difference in the death experience? And yes, mods, feel free to expunge away...

 

[Scott Kenny]

In the last day or two (depending on which time zone you reside in) there have been not one but two newsworthy (at least in the United States) deaths caused by forced Nitrogen inhalation, one of an American woman who committed suicide in a custom designed pod in a wooded area of Switzerland (shades of Soilent Green there...), and one of a death row inmate in an Alabama execution chamber. In the first case, the death was described as "peaceful", whereas in the latter case, the procedure was described as "a controversial method critics say is tantamount to torture where the victim shook and trembled on a gurney for about two minutes, with his body at times pulling against restraints", and the shaking and trembling being followed by about six minutes of periodic gulping breaths before he became still. Please note that this is NOT trying to start any ethical discussion, but merely to understand the discrepancy in the clinical description of both cases - e.g. could there be any technical/physiological/medical factors that would potentially make a difference in the death experience? And yes, mods, feel free to expunge away...

Given that just about any description of the death penalty is written as the most horrifying possible, my inclination is to doubt that report.

Divers are well acquainted with nitrogen narcosis.

I suspect that the flailing around that the observers criticize is simply the dude thrashing around in his dreams.

 

[martinbayer]

Given that just about any description of the death penalty is written as the most horrifying possible, my inclination is to doubt that report.

Divers are well acquainted with nitrogen narcosis.

I suspect that the flailing around that the observers criticize is simply the dude thrashing around in his dreams.

That *still* leaves the open question why one person would be thrashing around in their dying dreams/nightmares(?), while the other person under presumably the same conditions would not - this is *exactly* why I started this thread.

 

[Scott Kenny]

That *still* leaves the open question why one person would be thrashing around in their dying dreams/nightmares(?), while the other person under presumably the same conditions would not - this is *exactly* why I started this thread.

Different dreams.

Rapture of the Deep tends towards drunken behaviors. I'd guess the death row convict was an angry drunk and the suicide was not.

 

[TomcatViP]

I would guess that the pod is slightly over pressurized preventing Nitrogen bubbles to migrate out of the blood stream through the body, something that can only be agonizingly painful...

 

[Arjen]

'The bends' and nitrogen narcosis are two separate things.
1) The biochemical process nitrogen narcosis description from wiki:

Except for helium and probably neon, all gases that can be breathed have a narcotic effect, although widely varying in degree.[2 The effect is consistently greater for gases with a higher lipid solubility, and although the mechanism of this phenomenon is still not fully clear, there is good evidence that the two properties are mechanistically related.[2] As depth increases, the mental impairment may become hazardous. Divers can learn to cope with some of the effects of narcosis, but it is impossible to develop a tolerance. Narcosis can affect all ambient pressure divers, although susceptibility varies widely among individuals and from dive to dive. The main modes of underwater diving that deal with its prevention and management are scuba diving and surface-supplied diving at depths greater than 30 metres (98 ft).

Narcosis may be completely reversed in a few minutes by ascending to a shallower depth, with no long-term effects. Thus narcosis while diving in open water rarely develops into a serious problem as long as the divers are aware of its symptoms, and are able to ascend to manage it. Diving much beyond 40 m (130 ft) is generally considered outside the scope of recreational diving. To dive at greater depths, as narcosis and oxygen toxicity become critical risk factors, gas mixtures such as trimix or heliox are used. These mixtures prevent or reduce narcosis by replacing some or all of the inert fraction of the breathing gas with non-narcotic helium. There is a synergy between carbon dioxide toxicity, and inert gas narcosis which is recognised but not fully understood. Conditions where high work of breathing due to gas density occur tend to exacerbate this effect.

2) The physical process decompression sickness or 'the bends' description from wiki:

Decompression sickness (DCS; also called divers' disease, the bends, aerobullosis, and caisson disease) is a medical condition caused by dissolved gases emerging from solution as bubbles inside the body tissues during decompression. DCS most commonly occurs during or soon after a decompression ascent from underwater diving, but can also result from other causes of depressurisation, such as emerging from a caisson, decompression from saturation, flying in an unpressurised aircraft at high altitude, and extravehicular activity from spacecraft. DCS and arterial gas embolism are collectively referred to as decompression illness.

Since bubbles can form in or migrate to any part of the body, DCS can produce many symptoms, and its effects may vary from joint pain and rashes to paralysis and death. DCS often causes air bubbles to settle in major joints like knees or elbows, causing individuals to bend over in excruciating pain, hence its common name, the bends. Individual susceptibility can vary from day to day, and different individuals under the same conditions may be affected differently or not at all. The classification of types of DCS according to symptoms has evolved since its original description in the 19th century. The severity of symptoms varies from barely noticeable to rapidly fatal.

Decompression sickness can occur after an exposure to increased pressure while breathing a gas with a metabolically inert component, then decompressing too fast for it to be harmlessly eliminated through respiration, or by decompression by an upward excursion from a condition of saturation by the inert breathing gas components, or by a combination of these routes. Theoretical decompression risk is controlled by the tissue compartment with the highest inert gas concentration, which for decompression from saturation is the slowest tissue to outgas.

Nitrogen narcosis plays tricks on your nervous system.
The bends physically damage your body.

Execution by immersion in a pure nitrogen atmosphere, or inhaling pure nitrogen, kills you by asphyxia - it deprives you of oxygen.