Today, there is a phenomenon that is called “happy hypoxia” in medicine. It is when a patient may not notice low saturation (blood oxygen saturation) at all and feels good.
If the saturation has fallen below 94%, then even if you feel normal, you need to go to the hospital.
Many Patients with lung diseases, especially after COVID-19 should monitor their blood oxygen saturation levels, even in the absence of severe symptoms, to watch for signs of severe disease progression.
Saturation shows how oxygenated the blood is.
Hemoglobin is responsible for transporting oxygen, it is found in erythrocytes – red blood cells. The higher the saturation, the more oxygen in the blood and the better it is delivered to the tissues.
Do you know that pulse oximeter can help you in detecting low oxygen with the smart alarm?Pay attention to the best pulse oximeter in the market:Oxiline Pulse X Pro is currently the best fingertip pulse oximeter on the market with the easiest adjustment to your smartphone.
It can measure your Saturation Measurements and Perfusion Index in several seconds with 99% accuracy!
It can be used by both professional specialists and ordinary users at home. The latch fits snugly to the finger and does not move out during operation.The gadget consumes a minimum of energy, so it does not require frequent replacement of batteries.
Table of Contents
What Will Happen to Me if Saturation Drops?
Low saturation reflects hypoxia, oxygen starvation.
The lungs can not cope with the delivery of oxygen to the cells.
We need oxygen for redox processes.
A lot of cells use it for their life activity, nothing happens without it. Therefore, hypoxia can quickly lead to irreversible processes in cells, tissues, organs and systems.
First, they change in the form of dysfunction, and then the extinction of the function is possible.
Metabolic disorders occur in all organs and tissues. Anaerobic processes begin in cells with the release of a large amount of harmful substances, which disrupts the functioning of the body at the cellular level.
Symptoms of general malaise appear: weakness, drowsiness.
If no action is taken, then dizziness, ringing in the ears, impaired consciousness up to coma of various degrees appear.
How to Measure Saturation Fast?
The answer is with the Pulse oximeter.
The device is put on the finger, a special infrared LED transmits light through the blood and soft tissues, which allows you to determine the saturation.
A pulse oximeter is an ordinary finger sensor, there are two devices: one emits infrared radiation, and the second collects it.
If the blood is well saturated with oxygen, it absorbs this radiation in one way. If it is not saturated with oxygen, less radiation is absorbed.
Will a CPAP Help With Low Oxygen Levels?
CPAP therapy is the treatment of sleep apnea (stopping breathing during sleep) as a result of excessive growth of the tissues of the soft palate, pharyngeal tonsils or other anatomical defects.
CPAP machines can help to detect sleep apnea and low saturation respectively.
Because, when there is moderate sleep apnea the blood oxygen saturation level is below 85%. When it falls below 60% it shows that the patient has severe sleep apnea.
The mechanism of action of a CPAP Machine is quite simple.
In Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome, the upper airways at the level of the pharynx periodically collapse and develop either apnea (complete cessation of breathing) or hypopnea (incomplete cessation of breathing, but with a significant decrease in ventilation).
The CPAP machine recognizes these stops and low saturation during sleep and pressurizes the upper airways, preventing them from collapsing.
Thus, the method eliminates 100% snoring, increases saturation, nocturnal respiratory arrests (apnea and hypopnea), daytime sleepiness and other symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome from the first night of use.
Does CPAP Increase Oxygen Saturation?
This is the official List of what CPAP Therapy makes:
- 100% disappearance of snoring and apnea
- Increases Saturation while sleeping if it falls
- Reduces cardiovascular diseases and their risks: there is a lower frequency of lethal and non-lethal diseases.
- Normalize cerebral and systemic blood flow
- Makes improvements of the left ventricular ejection fraction
- Improves insulin sensitivity when testing insulin resistance;
- Improves lipid metabolism: improved 24-hour triglyceride levels;
- Improves body weight: with the right lifestyle and activities aimed at weight loss, body weight loss occurs
- Improves cognitive functions: there is a decrease in the level of fatigue,
improvement of mood, working capacity, ability to learn, active attention, helps to control depression.
How Long Should I have CPAP Therapy to see the first improvements?
CPAP therapy is used on an ongoing basis, for a long time and can be canceled only in the case of instrumental confirmation of persistent elimination of upper airway obstruction during sleep.
The minimum duration of CPAP therapy to ensure its effectiveness is considered to be an average of 4 hours per day for the entire time of use, at least 5 nights per week.
At the same time, with a severe degree of OSAS, the effectiveness of CPAP therapy increases with increasing use time and, ideally, should cover the entire time of sleep.
In the case of using devices that store information about treatment parameters, it is advisable to read the data for analysis according to the scheme proposed by the doctor.
Also, for control, it is advisable to conduct a control polysomnographic study once a year against the background of CPAP therapy in order to evaluate its effectiveness.
FAQ
Can a CPAP machine cause low oxygen levels?
Despite the benefits and safety, CPAP therapy is an intervention in the natural processes that occur in the body.
СPAP Machine can cause Low oxygen level.
Therefore, it is so important to choose the lowest possible pressure at which the treatment of complicated snoring will be effective.
What to Know before starting CPAP Therapy?
You need to know the following aspects before CPAP Therapy:
- Select a comfortable mask
- Select a comfortable initial pressure level. It is important to choose a comfortable initial pressure, which will be enough for the patient and which will not wake him up every night. For each person it is individual.
- Train to work with the device.
- Choose CPAP regimen – therapy in various modes. The most commonly used automatic mode at home in patients.
What will happen If CPAP Therapy gives you high pressure?
Too high pressure leads to intensive ventilation of the lungs and a significant decrease in the level of carbon dioxide in the blood.
Without carbon dioxide, the nervous system does not understand that the body needs oxygen and does not trigger the inhalation mechanism.
As a result, respiratory arrest occurs due to interruptions in the work of the respiratory center.
