Check your O2 (Covid-19 related)

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Palmpilot

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Based on this very interesting article, those of us who have one of the fingertip oximeters such as are sold by pilot suppliers might want to start checking our oxygen saturation even when we're at home.

The Infection That’s Silently Killing Coronavirus Patients
This is what I learned during 10 days of treating Covid pneumonia at Bellevue Hospital.

Excerpt:

"Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs in which the air sacs fill with fluid or pus. Normally, patients develop chest discomfort, pain with breathing and other breathing problems. But when Covid pneumonia first strikes, patients don’t feel short of breath, even as their oxygen levels fall. And by the time they do, they have alarmingly low oxygen levels and moderate-to-severe pneumonia (as seen on chest X-rays). Normal oxygen saturation for most persons at sea level is 94 percent to 100 percent; Covid pneumonia patients I saw had oxygen saturations as low as 50 percent."​
 
Perhaps ironic, I have a Fitbit-like device with O2 and it was like $30. I'm sure Apple will do it better but with Asian and European cheap versions already available its hard to sell me on the Garmin and Apple devices which are way to much in my opinion.
 
Sinistar said:
Perhaps ironic, I have a Fitbit-like device with O2 and it was like $30. I'm sure Apple will do it better but with Asian and European cheap versions already available its hard to sell me on the Garmin and Apple devices which are way to much in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Link to device?
 
It seems that the pneumonia may instead be clotting in the lungs; many reports of clotting of one sort or another have been reported (and an actor lost his leg to it.)
 
Absolutely spot on. Some of the most recent medical findings appear to suggest that the rapid deterioration of patients who otherwise appear to be recovering from COVID-19 infection is due to the occurrence of a large number of microclots in the lungs, not fluid buildup from the infection. It also explains why blood O2 levels drop out of proportion to what would be expected based on lung conditions. Now some hospitals are administering anti clotting agents as a matter of course for sick COVID-19 patients.

I believe that one news outlet reported that Boris Johnson was alerted to his worsening condition by measuring O2 sats and got early treatment of his developing pneumonia. Even a drug store pulse oximeter should be helpful. If I get COVID-19, and my O2 sats get to 90% (normally 97-99 for me) I'm getting on the phone to get admitted. I'd frankly be concerned if it dropped more than a few percent below my normal values. I use mine in the gym and I never see it drop below 96%, ever.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Link to device?
Click to expand...
This is the one use when I get above 10,000msl. Its definitely slower than a finger unit. And the interface isn't great. But it worked great for me on my wrist. I think it does more averaging than a finger unit. The HR seems correct. And its BP measurement vs a cuff is very, very close. Of course with covid its out but there should be similar.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VMC6DCM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

EDIT: I don't use it for sleep monitoring, as a fitness tracker or synch it with my phone. Just for monitoring SPO2 during flights. The reviewers beat it up pretty bad when it comes to connectivity, sleep monitoring, etc.
 
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AggieMike88 said:
An additional article on the subject from Slate.com

https://www.google.com/amp/s/slate.com/technology/2020/04/pulse-oximeter-covid19-new-york-times.amp
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That author cites the same NIH abstract that Murphey linked to above, but I think she goes a little overboard when she labels the worst of the units tested "not worth your time." The abstract points out that the results of "up to -6.30% mean bias, precision 4.30%, 7.53 ARMS" (measured when arterial oxygen saturation was below 80%) don't meet ISO standards, but I don't see why we need oximeters that meet clinical standards in order to figure out whether it's time to ask the doctor whether we should come in.

The Mayo Clinic says that "Normal pulse oximeter readings usually range from 95 to 100 percent. Values under 90 percent are considered low."

https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/hypoxemia/basics/definition/sym-20050930
 
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murphey said:
Did you go over to your local drug store? Not everything needs to be ordered online. Be surprised what you can find in person.

Or not.
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Yes. Over past week visited 2 Walgreens and 2 CVS’s.

All were out of oximeters and thermometers. At each I asked a minion to check back room stock, but no joy.
 
I'm surprised that there were enough people who didn't already have thermometers to result in a run on supplies.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Yes. Over past week visited 2 Walgreens and 2 CVS’s.

All were out of oximeters and thermometers. At each I asked a minion to check back room stock, but no joy.
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I'm not surprised about the thermometers, but had no idea the unwashed masses understood the benefit of pulse oximeters until the news release earlier this week.

What else is in short/no supply? Isopropyl alcohol. Fortunately I keep a couple bottles around (great for cleaning electronics and such).
 
When the God choose your time is not your choice. The device just tell the person watching you what is happening while you make death throws.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
Actually, widening of the A-a gradient is a late sign in the disruption of the lungs' ventilation to perfusion matching apparatus. You're gonna know long before.

'Course the PE that you get from Covid 19 will let you know via the AA-a gradient but it will be the least of your worries.
 
Hmm...My father in law had breathing trouble back in November and wasn't feeling good. A trip to the ER found he did not have the flu, and found he had a blood clot in his lungs. He is in his 70's and is very active. The Doc was searching for a reason why he would have had a blood clot and asked all kinds of questions. They had no clue, kept in the hospital for a few days, his oxygen level was very low so they gave him oxygen and medication to start the clot break up. He still doesn't have his breath back to this day. hmm....rona?? Maybe..
 
Briar Rabbit said:
After reading this I googled health watches and came up with this:

https://blogs.dailylifetech.com/EWl3/vita-watch/m1/amazing-heart-monitoring-smartwatch-1112

Looks like it monitors all the necessary vitals and might be worthwhile for checking O2 while flying in winter.
Any PIREPS on this device? Or any recommendations on something better?
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That reads a lot like a sales/advertorial. But if legit, might push more well known manufacturers to produce something.

I'm curious how it does blood pressure at your wrist and how accurate it is against more well known methods.
 
I just retired from a major level I trauma center. I worked as at CT tech there for 15 years. CT is the gold standard for assessing and diagnosing lung infections, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, and traumatic lung/chest injury (as well as many other things).

When I first heard about using a $40 pulse oximeter for non-medical people to use in determining when they should seek medical help, I thought it was a little like the old snake oil salesman, selling booze as a cureall because customers got a little tipsy, and indeed felt better for it.

My reasoning was that all of the patients I saw with decreased O2 saturation due to lung infections or lung consolidations all had very obvious signs of increased difficulty in breathing. So, by that logic, someone with labored breathing would likely feel bad enough to seek medical attention long before their O2 saturation was an issue.

So many people, including doctors, are now saying pulse oximeters can help to indicate when a person should get to the hospital, I guess I have to admit I was wrong.

There, I've said it! It won't be repeated! :confused::confused::mad::mad:
 
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wilkersk said:
I just retired from a major level I trauma center. I worked as at CT tech there for 15 years. CT is the gold standard for assessing and diagnosing lung infections, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, and traumatic lung/chest injury (as well as many other things).

When I first heard about using a $40 pulse oximeter for non-medical people to use in determining when they should seek medical help, I thought it was a little like the old snake oil salesman, selling booze as a cureall because customers got a little tipsy, and indeed felt better for it.

My reasoning was that all of the patients I saw with decreased O2 saturation due to lung infections or lung consolidations all had very obvious signs of increased difficulty in breathing. So, by that logic, someone with labored breathing would likely feel bad enough to seek medical attention long before their O2 saturation was an issue.

So many people, including doctors, are now saying pulse oximeters can help to indicate when a person should get to the hospital, I guess I have to admit I was wrong.

There, I've said it! It won't be repeated! :confused::confused::mad::mad:
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You're very brave. ;)

As I understand it, Covid-19 is the first disease in which patients can feel relatively OK with ridiculously low oxygen saturation. Looks to me like you were right, but then things changed.
 
> "Values under 90 percent are considered low."

Slight curve on the topic but this reminds me . . . for anyone (like me) that's had one of these neato little oxygen concentrators that run on 12 volts and on battery . . . to use one of them to replace the oxygen bottle in the plane . . . I've just discovered these things bring 02 level to a max of 90%. Maybe 92 or 93% for the larger models. I've never seen my 02 level lower than maybe 95 when flying on oxygen. If at 95 I'd adjust the flow a notch higher but with a concentrator you can't adjust anything. They may have their place in the cockpit but I've officially lost interest in them after finding this out.
 
As for the drug store pulse-ox...my $49 unit from Walgreens (about 7 yrs old) just died. Changed the battery, no help. Recognizes the pulse (it blinks) but no numbers for pulse nor O2.

Guess I shouldn't be surprised.....
 
My $30 Chinese oximeter from eBay, 14 years old, is still fine.
 
Another article by the same author:

Surviving COVID-19: The most important test may be at your fingertips

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthc...most-important-test-may-be-at-your-fingertips

Author's bio:

Richard M. Levitan, M.D., practices emergency medicine at Littleton (N.H.) Regional Hospital. He invented the Airway Cam, an imaging system to teach the proper intubation of patients and other airway devices. He is president of Airway Cam Technologies, which runs courses on emergency airway management.​
 
MikeS said:
> "Values under 90 percent are considered low."

Slight curve on the topic but this reminds me . . . for anyone (like me) that's had one of these neato little oxygen concentrators that run on 12 volts and on battery . . . to use one of them to replace the oxygen bottle in the plane . . . I've just discovered these things bring 02 level to a max of 90%. Maybe 92 or 93% for the larger models. I've never seen my 02 level lower than maybe 95 when flying on oxygen. If at 95 I'd adjust the flow a notch higher but with a concentrator you can't adjust anything. They may have their place in the cockpit but I've officially lost interest in them after finding this out.
Click to expand...

Do the devices bring the supply of air that you are breathing to 90% O2?
That 90% is different from the saturation % of your blood. A healthy human gets 98%+ blood O2 saturation from 20% O2 in the air we breathe.
Feeding your body air that is 90% O2 will make it easier for you to get to a higher saturation level.
 
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