What is cerebral hypoxia?

What is cerebral hypoxia?

Cerebral hypoxia occurs when your brain doesn’t get enough oxygen. A related condition, anoxia, occurs when no oxygen reaches the brain. Healthcare providers often use the terms together: a hypoxic-anoxic brain injury.

Without oxygen, brain cells die, and a brain injury can occur. It can happen even when enough blood reaches the brain, such as when you breathe in smoke or carbon monoxide.

Treatments can help people who have brain injuries from cerebral hypoxia. But no one can bring back dead brain cells or reverse a brain injury. The condition can result in lifelong brain damage. If it continues too long, it can be fatal.