William J. Cromie
Two researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) got the idea of studying free divers to get information that would help them help the breathless to breathe better. "We hope that by studying these athletes, we can teach patients how to better cope and recover from episodes of breathlessness," says Andrew Binks.
Divers took a battery of tests to see why their breathing capacity is so different from that of other people. Both they and a comparison group of normals were hooked up to a mechanical ventilator that controlled how often and how deeply they breathed. This device prevented the divers from breathing faster and deeper than nondivers.
