Question

What is usually present at the time of asphyxiation?
A. Oxyhaemoglobin
B. Methaemoglobin
C. Carbaminohaemoglobin
D. Hemoglobin without oxygen

Answer 1

Hint: During asphyxiation, the body is deprived of oxygen, because the red-colour pigment cannot bond with oxygen as it has \(F{e^{3 + }}\) instead of \(F{e^{2 + }}\). The word asphyxia has been derived from the ancient Greek word which means ‘throb of heart’.

Complete answer: Asphyxiation is a condition in which the body does not receive an appropriate amount of oxygen as required. It arises due to abnormal breathing. A very common example of asphyxia is choking. Asphyxia can also be seen as the generalized hypoxia. Generalized hypoxia is a condition in which the whole body is deprived of oxygen. It primarily affects the tissues and organs. There are several reasons for asphyxia, but the primary reason is that the body does not get the required amount of oxygen for prolonged periods. So, the haemoglobin is without oxygen. It can cause coma or even death.
The other reasons for asphyxiation can be airway obstruction, construction of airway from asthma, blockage of airway due to the presence of foreign materials, underwater environments, a low oxygen atmosphere, excessive smoke, etc. Prenatal asphyxia is a condition observed in infants due to a drop in maternal blood pressure or interference at the time of labour to the child’s brain.
Hence, the correct answer is option D.

Note: Methaemoglobin is also a condition of asphyxia. It is a genetic disorder. In a normal human being \(1 - 2\% \) of the haemoglobin is methemoglobin and the percentage is very less. In 2015 about 9.8 million cases of unintentional suffocation occurred which resulted in 35,600 deaths.