system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
If our cells can respire anaerobically, why do we die (so quickly) when suffocated? Wouldn't the cells just start respiring anaerobically until oxygen was re-supplied so the lactic acid could be broken down?
I'm assuming here that all cells can respire anaerobically like muscle cells can.
gpt
Anaerobic respiration is nowhere NEAR efficient enough to do anything more than handle short term emergency situations.

When relying on anaerobic respiration, your average cell will break down a molecule of glucose for a net total of 2 molecules of ATP (the energy molecule of the cell).

Using aerobic respiration, your average cell yields a net positive of 36 ATP molecules from the breakdown of one glucose.

So, aerobic respiration provides 18X more energy, or in other words when your body is forced to go into anaerobic mode, it is only about 6% efficient (as compared to aerobic respiration).

This is not enough to keep you alive.