Which condition is caused by insufficient intake of oxygen?

Which condition is caused by insufficient intake of oxygen?

• A. Hypoxia
• B. Asphyxia
• C. Anemia
• D. Cyanosis

Answer: (B)

When breathing is blocked or airflow is severely reduced, the body can’t take in enough oxygen, leading to a condition known as asphyxia. This directly describes the problem: insufficient intake of oxygen caused by impaired ventilation or airway obstruction, which then results in reduced oxygen reaching the tissues and often CO2 buildup. Hypoxia, while related, is a broader term for low oxygen in the tissues from any cause—not just limited to intake problems. Anemia carries oxygen through the body but at a reduced rate because there’s less hemoglobin to carry it, so the issue isn’t intake but capacity to transport oxygen. Cyanosis is a visible sign of low blood oxygen (deoxygenated hemoglobin) and indicates the presence of hypoxemia, not the mechanism of oxygen intake failure itself. So asphyxia is the condition most directly described by insufficient oxygen intake due to impaired ventilation.

When breathing is blocked or airflow is severely reduced, the body can’t take in enough oxygen, leading to a condition known as asphyxia. This directly describes the problem: insufficient intake of oxygen caused by impaired ventilation or airway obstruction, which then results in reduced oxygen reaching the tissues and often CO2 buildup.

Hypoxia, while related, is a broader term for low oxygen in the tissues from any cause—not just limited to intake problems. Anemia carries oxygen through the body but at a reduced rate because there’s less hemoglobin to carry it, so the issue isn’t intake but capacity to transport oxygen. Cyanosis is a visible sign of low blood oxygen (deoxygenated hemoglobin) and indicates the presence of hypoxemia, not the mechanism of oxygen intake failure itself.

So asphyxia is the condition most directly described by insufficient oxygen intake due to impaired ventilation.