What Researchers Did
Researchers studied how dimenhydrinate (Gravol) affects thinking and heart function in divers at different pressures to assess its safety in diving environments.
What They Found
Dimenhydrinate significantly lowered mental flexibility scores (p0.05). However, two subjects experienced abnormal heartbeats after taking the drug. Increased pressure alone significantly decreased verbal memory test scores (p=0.001) and mean heart rate (p<0.001).
What This Means for Canadian Patients
For Canadian patients who are divers, taking dimenhydrinate could impair their mental flexibility, which is crucial for safety underwater. This effect, combined with pressure's impact on memory, highlights potential risks for divers using this medication.
Canadian Relevance
While this study was not conducted in Canada, its findings are relevant to Canadian divers. The use of hyperbaric environments for diving safety, especially concerning medications like dimenhydrinate, relates to Health Canada-recognized indications such as decompression sickness.
Study Limitations
This study focused on a specific group of active divers in a monoplace chamber, so the findings may not apply to all individuals or other hyperbaric settings.