hypo-, hyp-
(Greek: under, below, beneath; less than; too little; deficient, diminished; used as a prefix)
2. A condition in which there is a reduced amount of air entering the pulmonary (lung) alveoli (small cell containing air in the lungs), causing decreased levels of oxygen and increased levels of carbon dioxide in the blood Hypoventilation can be a result of breathing that is too shallow (hypopnea), or too slow (bradypnea), or by diminished lung function.
2. A condition due to a deficiency of one or more essential vitamins.
2. In ecology, a condition in which inadequate environmental oxygen is available to an organism.
The "Dead Zone" off the Louisiana coast mapped during the last week of July, 2006, is reported to be 6,662 square miles; or about the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined, Dr. Nancy Rabalais, Chief Scientist for Northern Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Studies reported on Friday. The low oxygen waters extended from near the Mississippi River to the Louisiana-Texas border.
Agricultural runoff in the vast area drained by the Mississippi River contributes most of the nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients that feed a population boom of algae. As the algae die, they fall to the bottom. Their decay consumes oxygen faster than currents can bring it down from the surface.
Hypoxia may be induced by drugs or by strangling or hanging; some classify such autoerotic asphyxiation as a form of sexual masochism.
2. Hyponasty which is the result of exposure to intense light following an arrest of growth.
Hans was sweating less than usual when he was climbing up the mountain which suggested that he was experiencing thermhypesthesia.