Blood shift has at least two separate meanings:
- In medicine, it is synonymous with left shift.
- In biology, it may refer to a phenomenon seen when mammals submerge in water. It is part of the mammalian diving reflex. Blood vessels in the extremities contract, leaving a higher percentage of the entire blood volume in the torso. An effect important for freedivers is the resulting widening of the lung's capillaries. It reduces the lung's residual volume, thus increasing the depth at which the residual volume is reached (untrained average is at about 30 meters). According to Yasemin Dalkılıç, she can feel plasma enter her sinuses when diving to extreme depths whilst participating in free diving competitions. See also: immersion diuresis
Famous quotes containing the words blood and/or shift:
“Behold that great Plotinus swim
Buffeted by such seas;
Bland Rhadamanthus beckons him,
But the Golden Race looks dim,
Salt blood blocks his eyes.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“You’ve just fulfilled the first role of law enforcement. Make sure when your shift is over you go home alive.”
—David Mamet, U.S. screenwriter, and Brian DePlama. Jimmy Malone (Sean Connery)