according to new research.

German scientists said divers were aware of the risks posed by decompression sickness, or the bends, but many were unaware they could expose themselves to further dangers.

"Not all will know they may be risking pathological changes to their central nervous system and spine that accumulate over the years,'' the researchers were reported as saying in the Lancet medical journal.

Scuba diving is a popular sport in Bermuda, but yesterday one diver said he did not believe the findings of the research.

Mr. John Stephenson, who runs the Blue Water Diving Co. Ltd. and who has completed more than 10,000 dives over 25 years, said: "I am in perfect shape.

They might be scientists, but it seems to me to be a load of rubbish.

"I have carried out all those dives and I have not got anything wrong with me,'' added Mr. Stephenson.

The scientists, Dr. Juergen Reul and his colleagues, from the Technical University in Aachen, studied members of amateur diving clubs in Germany and compared them with swimmers and runners.

Scans were taken of the brains and spines of 52 amateur divers and of 50 control subjects.

They found 86 brain lesions, or damage to tissue, in 27 divers and 14 lesions in 10 non-divers. Spinal changes in divers were mostly in the neck. What cannot be predicted is whether the lesions will go on to produce disorders.

Yesterday, Dr. Edward Schultz, who operates the recompression chamber for divers at the King Edward VII Hospital, said he was unsurprised by the findings.

"There has been a lot of debate over the cumulative effect of diving. We know that virtually everyone that dives gets bubbles when they come up, but they do not necessarily have any symptoms,'' he said.