Coronavirus slowly starves you of oxygen and is like being suffocated
CORONAVIRUS slowly starves you of oxygen and is like being suffocated, an expert has claimed. Dr Cameron Kyle-Sidell, who is a critical care doctor in Brooklyn, New York, likened the symptoms of the disease to “altitude sickness”. ⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates His comments were in response to […]
CORONAVIRUS slowly starves you of oxygen and is like being suffocated, an expert has claimed.
Dr Cameron Kyle-Sidell, who is a critical care doctor in Brooklyn, New York, likened the symptoms of the disease to “altitude sickness”.
Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
His comments were in response to X-rays from the lungs of Covid-19 patients, which generally appear to look quite healthy.
Some patients may have lungs showing some areas of cloudiness, though most of it is black – indicating that they are filled with air.
Dr Kyle-Sidell, of the Maimonides Medical Center, explained that it was because patients were slowly being starved of oxygen.
He likened it to being stuck on a plane at 30,000ft and the cabin pressure is slowly let out, Medical Daily reported.
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The medic has been vocal in social media where he has called for ventilation techniques to be used in a slightly different way.
He says that Covid-19 doesn’t act in the same way as another type of respiratory illness known as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
Therefore, he believes that means that treatment should be different too.
Dr Kyle-Sidell tweeted: “Everyone in the medical field… Patients need oxygen not pressure. Covid-19 is not ARDS.
“Protocols MUST change. The time is NOW! Save 100,000 lives!”
Dr Luciano Gattinoni, one of the world’s experts in mechanical ventilation, said that while the devices help patients breathe better they could cause lung damage due to the high pressure.
He urged doctors to take extra care when diagnosing patients, adding that ventilators should only be used when needed and as sparingly as possible.
As far as the variation in lung X-rays goes, Dr Gattinoni said he thinks that the problem may lie in the intricate vessels of the blood vessels of the lungs.
He said that when lungs become damaged, the vessels that carry blood through the vital organ shut down.
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It means that the blood moves to another area that is still functioning properly.
However, Dr Gattinoni believes that some Covid-19 patients are unable to do this, so blood continues to flow through damaged parts of the lungs.
Some patients may feel like they’re taking good breaths but their blood oxygen is unknowingly dropping at the same time.