hypoxia

/haɪˈpɔksiə/

When a patient has hypoxia, some area of their body doesn't get enough oxygen. One of the symptoms of hypoxia is discolored skin, which can appear either bluish or bright red.

There are many causes of hypoxia, which can affect either the entire body or just specific organs. Premature babies frequently suffer from hypoxia because their lungs are underdeveloped, and both mountain climbers and scuba divers are also at risk of developing hypoxia. When it occurs at high altitudes, hypoxia is called "altitude sickness." Hypoxia was coined in the mid-20th century, from the Greek hypo, "under," and oxygen.

Definitions of hypoxia

1. noun

   oxygen deficiency causing a very strong drive to correct the deficiency
   types:

   anemic hypoxia

   hypoxia resulting from a decreased concentration of hemoglobin

   hypoxic hypoxia

   hypoxia resulting from defective oxygenation of the blood in the lungs

   ischemic hypoxia, stagnant hypoxia

   hypoxia resulting from slow peripheral circulation (such as follows congestive cardiac failure)

   altitude sickness

   effects (as nosebleed or nausea) of oxygen deficiency in the blood and tissues at high altitudes

   anoxia

   severe hypoxia; absence of oxygen in inspired gases or in arterial blood or in the tissues

   asphyxiation, suffocation

   the condition of being deprived of oxygen (as by having breathing stopped)

   mountain sickness

   nausea and shortness of breath experienced by mountain climbers above ten thousand feet

   anemic anoxia

   anoxia resulting from a decreased concentration of hemoglobin

   anoxic anoxia

   anoxia resulting from defective oxygenation of the blood in the lungs

   ischemic anoxia, stagnant anoxia

   anoxia resulting from slow peripheral circulation (such as follows congestive cardiac failure)

   type of:

   drive

   a physiological state corresponding to a strong need or desire