Lack of oxygen, which can also be called hypoxia, involves reducing oxygen supply to tissues throughout the body. Lack of oxygen in the blood, which can also be called hypoxemia, is a serious condition that can cause severe tissue damage.and, therefore, risk of death.
The brain is the most affected organ in this situation, as its cells can die in about 5 minutes due to lack of oxygen, so whenever signs of lack of oxygen are identified, such as shortness of breath, mental confusion, dizziness, fainting., eat or purple fingers, it is important to go to the emergency room as soon as possible.
- To identify a lack of oxygen.
- Your doctor can identify signals through a physical exam and request tests.
- Such as pulse oximetry or arterial blood gas analysis.
- Such as that can identify oxygen concentration in your bloodstream.
- Learn more about tests that confirm lack of oxygen.
Lack of oxygen in the blood and tissues can have different causes, including:
This occurs when the amount of oxygen in the breathed air is not enough, which usually occurs in places above 3000 meters, because the farther the sea level is, the lower the concentration of oxygen in the air.
This is known as hypobaric hypoxia and can cause certain complications, such as non-cardiogenic acute pulmonary edema, brain edema, dehydration and hypothermia.
Changes in the lungs caused by diseases such as asthma, emphysema, pneumonia, or acute pulmonary edema, for example, make it difficult for their membranes to enter the bloodstream, reducing the amount of oxygen in the body.
There are also other situations that prevent breathing, for example due to neurological or coma diseases, in which the lungs are unable to do their job properly.
Anemia, caused by a lack of iron or vitamins, bleeding or genetic disorders such as sickle cell anemia, can cause a lack of oxygen in the body, even if breathing is functioning normally.
Anemia causes insufficient amounts of hemoglobin, a protein found in red blood cells and is responsible for transporting oxygen caught in the lungs and delivering it to the body’s tissues.
This happens when there is enough oxygen in the blood, however, the blood cannot reach the body’s tissues, due to a blockage, as occurs during a heart attack, or when poor blood circulation, caused by heart failure, for example.
Situations such as carbon monoxide poisoning or poisoning by certain drugs, cyanide, alcohol or psychoactive substances can prevent oxygen from joining hemoglobin or prevent oxygen absorption by tissues, so they can also cause a lack of oxygen.
Neonatal hypoxia occurs due to a lack of oxygen supply to the baby from the maternal placenta, causing fetal suffering.
It can occur before, during or after delivery, due to maternal changes related to the placenta or fetus, and may have consequences for the baby such as cerebral palsy and mental retardation.
People with a certain type of psychological disorder use more oxygen when they are in a stressful situation, leading to signs and symptoms such as shortness of breath, palpitations and mental confusion.
Under extreme environmental conditions of cold or heat, there is a greater need for oxygen to maintain the body’s metabolism in its normal functions, with a decrease in tolerance to hypoxia.
Symptoms that indicate a lack of oxygen in the blood include
However, when the lack of oxygen is located in a single organ or region of the body, specific lesions are caused in this tissue, which is called ischemia or infarction, some examples of this situation are cardiac, intestinal, pulmonary or stroke infarction , for example.
In addition, tissue damage caused by lack of oxygen can be reversible after correcting this problem and recovering cells, however, in some cases, lack of oxygen causes tissue death, causing permanent damage.can occur after a stroke.
Treatment of lack of oxygen usually begins with the use of an oxygen mask to try to normalize your blood level, however, the situation will only actually be treated with the resolution of the cause.
Thus, depending on the cause, your doctor indicates specific treatments, such as the use of antibiotics for pneumonia, nebulization for asthma, drugs to improve lung or heart function, anemia treatments or antidotes for poisoning for example.
In severe cases, which are caused by brain damage or cannot be resolved immediately, the use of artificial breathing through devices, in an intensive care environment and with the use of sedatives, may be necessary until the doctor is able to stabilize the ability.Respiratory: Understand when an induced coma is needed.