Oxygen, its levels and oxygen therapy.
A person can live several days without eating but only a few minutes without breathing. Oxygen is vital for living beings and thanks to it obtains the necessary energy for the organism
Oxygen therapy, a treatment that gives life
We can go more than a month without eating, between 8 and 10 days without sleeping and about a week without drinking, but barely 2 minutes without breathing. Although these actions are essential for us, the main one is breathing.
Without the oxygen that we acquire when we breathe, our body stops having the energy to function and stops, because without oxygen there is no life.
Respiratory insufficiency
The most important part of breathing is gas exchange. Thanks to this process, the oxygen that we take in during breathing is sent to all the cells of our body through the blood, while carbon dioxide is eliminated in breathing.
When our body is not able to carry out this gas exchange correctly, respiratory failure occurs. The symptoms that alert us that this situation is occurring are:
- Choking sensation and shortness of breath, especially when making efforts.
- The lips and/or nails are colored blue.
- Problems concentrating and maintaining attention.
- Headache.
- Drowsiness or drowsiness.
- Faster breaths.
- Increased pulsations.
Pulse oximetry and oximetry, on the way to diagnosis.
A simple way to measure blood oxygenation is by using a pulse oximeter placed on the ear or finger. But it is only an indicative value, since for a diagnosis it is necessary to perform a gasometry. Thanks to this arterial blood gas analysis, both the concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide that we have in our blood can be measured. We will be in a situation of hypoxemia when the oxygen pressure in the gasometry is less than 60mmHg. It is estimated that this value is equivalent to 90% in pulse oximetry.
Oxygen therapy, the treatment of choice for respiratory failure
When a person has hypoxemia and cannot get enough oxygen through breathing for their body to function properly, they will be a candidate for the use of oxygen therapy. This treatment will provide an extra amount of oxygen that will level the oxygen values in the blood and allow the person to carry out their normal lives.
The oxygen dose (flow) to apply will depend on the situation of each person, as well as the hours of use.
It is a treatment that does not cause dependency and that must be applied as prescribed by the doctor. The person using it may increase the hours of use if necessary, but may not increase the flow or stop using it without permission from the doctor.
Depending on the oxygen concentration control that we want to have, oxygen will be administered with low flow systems, such as nasal gauze, simple masks and reservoir masks, in which there is little control, or with high flow systems, like the Venturi mask, with good control.
Oxygen supply sources can be static, which are used at home, and portable, which can be used outdoors.
Benefits of oxygen therapy
If the prescribed oxygen therapy treatment is complied with, it will have multiple benefits for the patient.
Among them we can highlight:
- Reduces mortality
- Improve alertness.
- Increases exercise tolerance.
- Improves the psychological state of the person
- Increases your quality of life.
- Improves rest and sleep quality.
- Decreases the effort made to breathe.
- Reduces the work of the heart.
- Increases energy level.
- Reduces the number of visits to the emergency room and hospital admissions.
Precautions for use
Because oxygen is a flammable gas, it is very important to observe a series of precautions during its use:
- Do not smoke in the same room where the device is located, as well as aerosols, solvents and greasy products.
- The oxygen source will have to be placed more than two meters from the heat sources (braziers, radiators, fireplaces...)
- The teams have to stay upright.
- Avoid moving static oxygen sources.
- The devices will be checked frequently by the supply company, they will never be tampered with.
If you want more information on this topic, we invite you to visit our section oxygen therapy.
If you have questions about this or other #RespiratoryHealth and #PulmonaryHealth issues, you can contact our HappyAir Coaches by writing to us at Cuentanos@lovexair.com and we will respond as soon as possible.
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