Diving with Type 1 Diabetes

Q: I was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and will now require insulin. Will I be able to dive again?

Woman giving herself an insulin shot

Inert Gas Washout

DAN medics and researchers answer your questions about dive medicine.

Four divers pose underwater

COPD: Incompatible With Diving

Reduced exercise tolerance is common for those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and poses risks for diving. There can be strenuous activity involved with managing currents, swimming on the surface in choppy seas or pulling yourself and your heavy gear up a ladder and onto an unsteady boat. With COPD, shortness of breath during exertion doesn’t mean you are out of shape; it means you cannot rid your body of carbon dioxide and replace it with the oxygen needed to meet the demand of your exertion.

illustration of lungs