CO2 levels are the stimulus to breath , O2 levels within the blood are irrelevant if the CO2 level is low, frequently found in anxiety/ ADHD /asthma etc via over breathing , shorter faster upper chest ( hyperventilating). The more we breathe, the harder we breath CO2 is expelled at a higher rate increasing the bond between haemoglobin and O2 . You’ll often find sufferers have cold hands and feet as low CO2 restricts blood flow.
Often seen in psychological disorders are strong emotional responses, a feature of biochemical changes associated with these responses are an increase in adrenaline and noradrenalin . This has been shown to boost the body’s sensitivity to CO2 by as much as 30% triggering harder, faster and upper chest mouth breathing, further exacerbating the condition. The respiratory centre and chemoreceptors in the brain interpret increasing CO2 to trigger an inhalation response. When a sensitivity is developed, the chemoreceptors can interpret the presence of CO2 at a lower than optimal trigger point. When CO2 sensitivity rises and PH changes it stimulates a breathing response to rid the interpreted increase in CO2. Huge gains can made in anxiety sufferers simply by reducing their minute respiratory rate.
