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 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.Two principal factors control the risk of a diver developing DCS:

the rate and duration of gas absorption under pressure – the deeper or longer the dive the more gas is absorbed into body tissue in higher concentrations than normal (Henrys Law);
the rate and duration of outgassing on depressurization – the faster the ascent and the shorter the interval between dives the less time there is for absorbed gas to be offloaded safely through the lungs, causing these gases to come out of solution and form "micro bubbles" in the blood.Even when the change in pressure causes no immediate symptoms, rapid pressure change can cause permanent bone injury called dysbaric osteonecrosis (DON). DON can develop from a single exposure to rapid decompression. Leaving a high-pressure environment
When workers leave a pressurized caisson or a mine that has been pressurized to keep water out, they will experience a significant reduction in ambient pressure. A similar pressure reduction occurs when astronauts exit a space vehicle to perform a space-walk or extra-vehicular activity, where the pressure in their spacesuit is lower than the pressure in the vehicle.The original name for DCS was "caisson disease".
Palpitations are perceived abnormalities of the heartbeat characterized by awareness of cardiac muscle contractions in the chest, which is further characterized by the hard, fast and/or irregular beatings of the heart.Symptoms include a rapid pulsation, an abnormally rapid or irregular beating of the heart. Palpitations are a sensory symptom and are often described as a skipped beat, rapid fluttering in the chest, pounding sensation in the chest or neck, or a flip-flopping in the chest.Palpitation can be associated with anxiety and does not necessarily indicate a structural or functional abnormality of the heart, but it can be a symptom arising from an objectively rapid or irregular heartbeat. Palpitation can be intermittent and of variable frequency and duration, or continuous. Associated symptoms include dizziness, shortness of breath, sweating, headaches and chest pain. Palpitation may be associated with coronary heart disease, hyperthyroidism, diseases affecting cardiac muscle such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, diseases causing low blood oxygen such as asthma and emphysema; previous chest surgery; kidney disease; blood loss and pain; anemia; drugs such as antidepressants, statins, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, cocaine and amphetamines; electrolyte imbalances of magnesium, potassium and calcium; and deficiencies of nutrients such as taurine, arginine, iron, vitamin B12.