suffocation

suffocation /suf·fo·ca·tion/ (suf?ah-ka´shun)

1. asphyxiation.

2. the asphyxia that results from stoppage of respiration.suf´focative

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suffocation,

n interference with the entrance of air into the lungs.

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suffocation

the stoppage of breathing, or the asphyxia that results from it. If suffocation is complete—that is, no air at all reaches the lungs—the lack of oxygen and excess of carbon dioxide in the blood will cause almost immediate loss of consciousness. Though the heart continues to beat briefly, death will follow in a matter of minutes unless emergency measures are taken to get breathing started again.

Suffocation can be caused by drowning, electric shock, gas or smoke poisoning, strangulation, or choking on a foreign body in the trachea. That suffocation is occurring in an animal may not be obvious. Signs that suggest obstruction to the air passage, e.g. in acute pulmonary edema, are gasping dyspnea with mouth breathing, frantic demented activity including aggression, especially in horses, terminally violent convulsions and asphyxial respiratory failure.