 DCS is best known as a diving disorder that affects divers having breathed gas that is at a higher pressure than the surface pressure, owing to the pressure of the surrounding water. The risk of DCS increases when diving for extended periods or at greater depth, without ascending gradually and making the decompression stops needed to slowly reduce the excess pressure of inert gases dissolved in the body. The specific risk factors are not well understood and some divers may be more susceptible than others under identical conditions. DCS has been confirmed in rare cases of breath-holding divers who have made a sequence of many deep dives with short surface intervals; and it may be the cause of the disease called taravana by South Pacific island natives who for centuries have dived by breath-holding for food and pearls.
