Blood-oxygen level problems in COVID-19 patients:
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Posted On: 04/15/2020 2:49:34 PM
Blood-oxygen level problems in COVID-19 patients: One of the very unusual features of this virus is that the lungs of patients with very low blood-oxygen levels are NOT behaving like they do in "normal" pneumonia that people get as a complication from viruses like SARS, MERS, and the flu. They're trying different ways of trying to get people's oxygen levels up, without having to intubate. Intubated patients frequently die, and the question now is whether intubation is helping, or making it worse.
One of the big problems is that neither China nor the CDC has been forthcoming about the "natural history" of infection with this virus -- what the expected progression of symptoms would be, and how frequently there are complications, etc.
Another problem is that people who have low blood-oxygen levels over a longer period of time can have brain damage, and there is some evidence that people who have had such events because of multiple surgeries eventually have a higher risk of dementia.
Anyway -- one very important thing that's just been publicized as a result of this virus is that if you have a lung infection, it's better to lie on your front, not flat on your back. Gravity helps get rid of some of the crap in your lungs when you lie on your front.
Here's a good article about all this:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/doctors-think-vent...26969.html
One of the big problems is that neither China nor the CDC has been forthcoming about the "natural history" of infection with this virus -- what the expected progression of symptoms would be, and how frequently there are complications, etc.
Another problem is that people who have low blood-oxygen levels over a longer period of time can have brain damage, and there is some evidence that people who have had such events because of multiple surgeries eventually have a higher risk of dementia.
Anyway -- one very important thing that's just been publicized as a result of this virus is that if you have a lung infection, it's better to lie on your front, not flat on your back. Gravity helps get rid of some of the crap in your lungs when you lie on your front.
Here's a good article about all this:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/doctors-think-vent...26969.html
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