How terrible is "silent hypoxia"? Elderly people are "yang", please pay attention to this!

Recently, many experts have reminded that the elderly need to be wary of " silent hypoxia " after being infected with the new coronavirus.

What is "silent hypoxia"? What are the hazards? In home care, how to identify and deal with "silent hypoxia"? If you have elderly people at home, you must pay attention!

01

What is "silent hypoxia"

Niu Hongtao, a physician from the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, said in an interview with Science and Technology Daily:

The lungs of the human body are responsible for the gas exchange that sustains life. They provide oxygen to every cell in the body when inhaling and remove carbon dioxide when exhaling. When the blood components are insufficient (anemia) or the oxygen content in the blood is low (hypoxemia), the tissues are not supplied with enough oxygen. This is called hypoxia. When there is hypoxia, the breathing rate usually increases to increase the amount of gas inhaled, which is also a kind of "alarm" sent by the body.

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However, there is also a situation where the body's blood oxygen content has dropped, but there is no simultaneous signal such as shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. "This kind of 'silent' hypoxia is 'invisible hypoxia', also known as 'silent hypoxia '."

If the body is lacking in oxygen and fails to send out an "alarm" in time, it will cause irreparable and fatal damage to the body's vital organs.

In reality, patients with "silent hypoxia" may appear to be in good condition, but their blood oxygen saturation may have dropped below 70%.

02

Which elderly people need special attention?

Elderly people over 60 years old, patients with hypertension, diabetes, cancer, cachexia and other high-risk patients need to pay close attention .

When infected with the new coronavirus, the upper respiratory tract symptoms are not severe, the fever is not obvious, and even hypothermia occurs, but the viral load remains positive and turns negative slowly. Ground-glass inflammatory changes in both lungs may occur without being noticed, which is life-threatening.

At home, monitoring blood oxygen saturation with a finger pulse oximeter is a cost-effective option for identifying "silent hypoxia." If the blood oxygen saturation is found to be significantly reduced (generally below 93%) when not receiving oxygen, or if symptoms of mental depression occur, the elderly should be taken to see a doctor in a timely manner.

In addition, the occurrence of "silent hypoxia" can be identified by observing skin discoloration (red or purple) , cyanosis (lip color changes from natural tones to blue or purple) , and decreased endurance (profuse sweating or shortness of breath after light physical work, walking 100 meters on flat ground, or climbing 2 floors).

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03

After the elderly are infected

Under what circumstances do you need to seek medical attention promptly?

Li Yanming, director of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at Beijing Hospital, suggested:

For the elderly, especially the disabled, the accompanying family members must regularly monitor the body temperature, heart rate, pulse, and peripheral blood oxygen saturation changes. Family members can first understand the overall basic condition of the elderly, such as the basic heart rate and basic blood oxygen saturation. On the basis of understanding the basic situation, do a close monitoring and detect any obvious changes at the first time.

"If these indicators are relatively stable, there is no problem. If there is instability, especially a significant decrease in blood oxygen saturation, the patient should be sent to the hospital for treatment in time." Li Yanming said that the earlier the treatment is sought, the higher the success rate of treatment.

In addition, Li Yanming suggested that family members can also observe changes in the general condition of the elderly, such as whether they can eat well, whether they have urinary incontinence, whether their urination and defecation are normal, whether the amount of urine has decreased significantly, and whether their mental state has changed significantly .

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"Old people are sometimes unable to accurately express their discomfort, but if they show obvious drowsiness, or suddenly fail to recognize people, don't know where they are, or speak illogically , these are all dangerous signals," said Li Yanming.

In addition, after being infected with the new coronavirus, if the symptoms such as fever, cough, and difficulty breathing persist or worsen , the elderly should also pay special attention and seek medical treatment in time. If new abnormalities occur, such as sudden poor movement of one limb or mental abnormalities, they need to be sent to the doctor in time.

In addition, the elderly usually have multiple underlying diseases , such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, coronary heart disease, diabetes, etc. If the underlying diseases themselves worsen after being infected with the new coronavirus, especially the worsening of chronic underlying diseases of the respiratory system, they need to seek medical attention in time.

Li Yanming reminded that for elderly people over 80 years old, who have multiple underlying diseases and whose underlying diseases are not well controlled, and who have not been vaccinated with the new crown vaccine , family members should be more careful when observing these indicators. If any problems occur, they should be sent to the hospital more promptly.

Elderly people at home

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Contents are compiled from Science and Technology Daily, People's Daily, Southern Metropolis Daily, Xinhua News Agency, etc.

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