Skip to main content

COVID-19 - Pulse Oximeter is a solution at your fingertip

PULSE OXIMETER - COVID-19

Pulse Oximeter measures oxygen saturation in blood. 

One  of the answers to COVID-19 is probably at your fingertip , doctor says . With growing experience of dealing with sick people who report to hospitals with breathlessness , experts have recommended the use of relatively cheap device at home that can forewarn you about any impending crisis - the pulse oximeter.

The small device , which fits into the palm of your hand , measures the oxygen saturation in the blood in a non-invasive manner.


All one need to do is clip the device onto a finger tip , and it will show the Spo2 level (peripheral oxygen saturation) , or the oxygen level in blood. Its role in COVID-19 patient's health monitoring is significant.

Silent hypoxia (deprivation of oxygen at the tissue level) has emerged as a major cause of death in COVID-19 patients , said K. Kolandaswamy , former director of public health. Usually , when your oxygen falls below 95% , you will have symptoms , breathlessness , a feeling of discomfort certainly. Now in COVID-19 , for some reason , that is not happening. Patients are not feeling the drop in oxygen levels at all until they are dangerously low. When they finally land up in hospital , they sometimes have a Spo2 of 80% , or 75% and are in respiratory distress, he explained.

The pulse oximeter , priced upwards of Rs .1000 , will prevent the patient from reaching this level of distress , he said. Daily monitoring of Spo2 levels will indicate if there is hypoxia , and in case the level drop below 95% , it would be prudent to seek medical care, he added.

In government hospitals , patient's Spo2 levels are monitored with a pulse oximeter and recorded at four-hour intervals. At the first sign of a drop in oxygen saturation , the patient is given high flow nasal oxygen in order to improve his or her condition . We would advise people at home to buy this device and use it to test themselves often. Any drop below 95% is a cause for worry, said doctor at the Multi Super Speciality Hospital, Omandurar.

R. Jayanthi , dean , Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital , said intervention at an early stage , or detection of dropping oxygen saturation levels , could prevent deaths.
When a  cytokine storm occurs , there is supposed to be an aberrant release of pro-inflammatory factors that causes damage to the lungs and hypoxia, among other factors. Hence noticing the drop in oxygen levels is key , experts pointed out. Unless prevented early , a cytokine storm sets in motion a cascade of events that becomes irreversible , and leads to death.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

If you have any doubt. Let me know

Popular posts from this blog

Does Vaping Causes Cancer ?

 What is Vaping? E - cigarettes, sometimes called vapes, run on batteries and heat up nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals. They turn them into a vapor you can breath in. Many chemicals that causes cancers are in the this vapor, that includes formaldehyde, heavy metals, and particles that can get stuck in the deepest parts of your lungs. Electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes , put nicotine into your lungs and bloodstream, and they do it without the smoke and tar of a regular cigarette, but other harmful things can get into your body when you vape. That especially true if you use flavored cigarettes. Some chemicals in e- cigarettes can irritate the airways in your lungs. This can cause problems. Studies have found that flavorings like cinnamon can cause inflammation of lung cells. How do e-cigarettes work ? E- cigarettes heat a liquid called e- liquid or e-juice to turn it into aerosol(vapor). E-cigarettes users inhale this into their lungs. How vaping can affect your Lungs Ove...
Post a Comment
Read more

Are We Brainwashed During Sleep?

 In a new study, researchers suggest that tonight while you sleep, something amazing will happen within your brain. Your neurons will go quiet. A few seconds later , blood flow out of your head . Then, a watery liquid called cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) will flow in, washing through your brain in rhythmic, pulsing waves. The study is the first to illustrate that the brain's CSF pulses during sleep,and that these motions are closely tied with brain wave activity and blood flow. The research was conducted by a team from Boston University. Earlier studies have suggested that CSF flow and slow-wave activity both help flush toxic,memory impairing proteins from the brain. As people age, their brains often generate fewer slow waves. In turn, this could affect the blood flow in the brain and reduce the pulsing of CSF during sleep., leading to buildup of toxic proteins and a decline in memory abilities. Although researchers have tended  to evaluate these processes separately, it now appea...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sweet Poison : Why Sugar is Ruining your Health

Did you know some of the main ingredients in most of your pantry foods and refrigerated sauces contain sugar? Usually sugar is added to foods in the forms of simple sugars such as glucose, fructose or sucrose, but often manufacturer will disguise the amount of sugar by listing it under several different names. Some of them are : Barely malt Brown rice syrup Corn syrup Dextrin Dextrose Ethyl maltol Have you ever wondered why processed sugar consumption is bad for you ? Quitting sugar has a lot of benefits. Let's face it , very few people go for a day without consuming sugar. However, not all of it is bad. For instance, sugar from milk products(lactose) is healthy. In addition to that, sugar from some fruit products (fructose) is also healthy. In other words it can only be healthy when it is consumed in its natural form and moderate amounts. Unfortunately, most sugar that we consume is unhealthy, artificial, and slowly killing us. Although it helps to make your food sweet , the negat...
Post a Comment
Read more