Aug 9,2023
Several people suffering from pulmonary fibrosis, chronic obtrusive pulmonary disease, and other lung illnesses finally need supplementary oxygen therapy to decrease breathlessness. Nevertheless, getting a prescription for home oxygen could feel distressing. Suddenly, some people start suffering from a medical problem that requires them to breathe oxygen.
As those people try to solve the problems of employing and setting oxygen therapy systems after purchasing them from a well-known supplier, they must remember that this therapy can significantly enhance their quality of life as their pulmonary fibrosis, chronic obtrusive pulmonary disease, or other lung illnesses progresses. This blog section discusses seven tips that people must follow to live comfortably with oxygen therapy at their house.
After their lung doctor prescribes home oxygen therapy, they must go to their house and talk to their family members about how this would affect their lives. They must tell them that this therapy will help them stay active and keep performing the tasks they like to do with them.
People should ask for their help as they learn to adapt to using portable and home oxygen. These conversations might help them live normally as much as possible as their oxygen therapy begins.
Many people get an oxygen therapy system for home oxygen therapy. This equipment could reside in a discreet place and supply oxygen to their nose through a long tubing that could reach throughout their house.
After the home oxygen therapy machine supplier installs the oxygen therapy concentrator, people should talk to that supplier about the required oxygen concentrator maintenance. For instance, oxygen delivery concentrators featuring filters need a periodic filter change.
Supplemental oxygen delivery therapy employs two separate tube pieces: a lengthy tube connected to the tank or concentrator and a nasal cannula attached to the tube that supplies oxygen to the nostrils.
People must ask their oxygen supplier how frequently they must change the cannula and the main tube. Generally, people must often change the cannula even if it does not seem to be soiled. They should change the tubing in thirty to sixty days.
People should always keep extra cannulas and oxygen delivery machines within easy reach if either product becomes broken during use.
It is easy to accidentally damage a portion of the tubing by cutting it. Having additional tubing nearby would let people avoid an oxygen flow disruption.
If their house faces a power outage, their oxygen delivery machine might fail. People must make an action plan to ensure they do not lose oxygen during a power breakdown.
Their plan must encompass immediately switching off the portable oxygen tank until their power supply is restored. If they run out of oxygen before the power supply gets restored, they must call for medical help. If they can afford it, they should buy a home back generator.
If they employ a humidifier bottle with their oxygen delivery machine, they must wash it many times. This is because bacteria could proliferate in humidifier attachments. Remove the bottle and clean it with water and soap weekly.
Oxygen is not explosive or flammable; oxygen tanks and delivery machines infuse the atmosphere with oxygen. They can lead to the burning of fires much more quickly than usual. Thus, people should keep oxygen equipment like oxygen tanks away from every open flame source.
They must ask their home oxygen supplier or doctor about safe cooking practices if they employ a gas range. Above all, they must not permit anyone to smoke in their oxygen-rich atmosphere.
Decreases their risk for heart illness and other heart problems
Hypoxemia is a medical problem humans face when there is insufficient oxygen in their blood to meet their body's needs. All organs and tissues in the human body require oxygen. Thus, hypoxemia is so harmful to human health. If there are low levels of oxygen in the human blood for long periods, it could lead to different health complications.
Left untreated, hypoxemia is very dangerous for the human cardiovascular system and lungs. This could lead to heart attacks, heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, and high blood pressure.
Less commonly, hypoxemia could cause a rare blood disease called secondary polycythemia, which occurs when the human body develops excessive blood cells to compensate for low oxygen levels in the human blood.
Nevertheless, supplemental oxygen therapy decreases their risk for these health problems by increasing the oxygen saturation in the human blood. While this might not fully reverse their hypoxemia, it can lower it by adequately meeting the oxygen needs of the human body.
Without breathing supplemental oxygen, several people suffering from chronic pulmonary obtrusive disease and other chronic respiratory diseases could not exercise well. This is because the physical strain adds to the level of oxygen that the human body requires, forcing the lungs to work more and making breathing more challenging.
Nevertheless, supplemental oxygen helps people breathe better when they exercise, walk, or perform physical activity. This could help them get around quickly, be more active and work out better than before.
Here are some ways by which supplemental oxygen influences the human ability to exercise
It enhances their exercise tolerance, which is their capability to finish physical activities.
It enhances their exercise endurance, which is their capability to walk or perform other physical activities for long periods.
Decrease discomfort and respiratory symptoms during exercise.
It permits people to exert themselves harder and perform very intense exercise.
Oxygen therapy primarily does these things by helping relieve shortness of breath and keeping blood oxygen levels up during exercise.
This helps people exercise for more extended periods and perform intensive physical exercises without needing to stop because of fatigue or breathlessness.
Supplemental oxygen therapy could not enhance their physical abilities but could also help people remember, reason, and think about things better.
That is because low oxygen levels in the human blood could have subtle impacts on the human brain that supplemental oxygen could correct.
When oxygen saturation in the human blood is low, it could make them feel less alert, tired, and foggy-headed. This could make everyday life more challenging and add to the toughness of maintaining healthy habits such as exercise.
Chronic low blood oxygen levels could also result in mild cognitive impairment, which is very common in people suffering from respiratory problems, particularly advanced chronic obtrusive pulmonary disease. Mild cognitive impairment affects human memory, judgment and increases the risk for psychological problems such as depression and anxiety.
Mild cognitive impairment is simple to miss, as its symptoms are often mild. If people know that they are suffering from this cognitive problem, they would note that they are more forgetful, make very thoughtless decisions or face difficulty focusing on complicated tasks.
Luckily, research shows that breathing supplemental oxygen could avert cognitive decline or at least avert it from worsening after it starts. Some researchers have even suggested that oxygen therapy could reverse the signs of mild cognitive impairment by enhancing blood flow through the human brain.
