Lung Diseases Archives

What is Hypoxia?

The word hypoxia means “low oxygen”. To put in other words, hypoxia is the reduced supply or availability of oxygen to the body tissues. Hypoxia can be generalized, affecting the whole body or it can be localized, confined to one part or region of the body. What makes hypoxia so dangerous is its ability to permanently damage body organs, like the brain. That’s because cells require an uninterrupted supply of oxygen to thrive. Once they lose that, they start to wither.

To understand hypoxia, you must know a little about how oxygen is supplied to different body parts. Our lungs are the main sites for gaseous exchange in the body. Each lung is composed of a huge number of tiny air pockets or sacs called “alveoli”, which are covered with extremely small blood vessels called the capillaries. When air is inhaled into the lungs, the oxygen present in it moves through the walls of alveoli into the blood present in the capillaries and from there into the blood circulation. From here onwards, oxygen is transported to the tissues of body through the hemoglobin (a protein) in red blood cells. Once hemoglobin takes oxygen to the target tissues, oxygen detaches itself from hemoglobin and is utilized by body tissues.

April 20, 2015July 25, 2023 Scott Ridl

World Pneumonia Day – November 12th, 2014

World pneumonia day may have come and gone, but it’s something that should definitely be talked about. During the winter months, pneumonia can be a really danger to anyone, but especially to those with compromised immune systems and chronic lung diseases. November 12th is World Pneumonia Day, as named by the American Lung Association. Pneumonia is actually one of the leading causes of death worldwide, according to the American Lung Association.

If you are over the age of 55 or have a chronic lung disease, it’s recommended that you get a pneumonia vaccine. There are two types of pneumococcal vaccines. Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) is the most common, and given to adults between the ages of 19 and 64 with medical conditions, like asthma, COPD and certain kidney diseases. You would only need to get it every 5 years if your doctor sees the need for it.

November 2, 2014April 8, 2021 Scott Ridl

Palliative Care and How it Benefits Anyone with Chronic Illness

When one part of our bodies gets sick, it’s usually not confined to that part of the body. Everything in the body is connected in one way or another, which means everything, can be affected. If you have COPD, other parts of you can be affected, such as your heart, circulation, and even your mental state.

If you’ve been diagnosed with a chronic illness or something like cancer, your body will go through some changes. If you have severe asthma, you will probably find yourself unable to exercise, which can cause weight gain and even make you have trouble sleeping. The fact is something serious like this can cause a chain reaction of other medical problems. If we know this, why not prevent them or treat them right away?

September 22, 2014April 7, 2021 Scott Ridl

Advice for Using Portable Oxygen Concentrators for Emphysema

Oxygen therapy is one of the types of medications used to treat the chronic lung disease, emphysema. Emphysema doesn’t always require oxygen therapy as a treatment – this depends on your lung function and how low your blood oxygen level is. If it’s below the accepted levels, you’ll need to be able to breathe in higher concentrations of oxygen, because your lungs cannot bring in what your body needs, on their own.

What does it mean when one has emphysema? Emphysema is when some of the tiny air sacks in the lungs are too damaged to function or function properly. Their function is a significant one – they are the gateways between the lungs and the bloodstream.

The oxygen you breathe in is transferred through the air sacks, called alveoli, to your blood, which is then taken to all the parts of your body. Your blood also carries carbon dioxide out of your body, from your blood to your lungs, which is exhaled as waste. When your alveoli are too damaged to function properly enough, you can’t get enough oxygen to your blood, and it’s much harder to release the carbon dioxide.

August 5, 2014April 7, 2021 Scott Ridl

Come to an American Lung Association Rally Near You!

Living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and other chronic lung diseases can be rough, even when your oxygen needs are being met. You might have a lot of questions about the disease, or you might be feeling down and isolated after being diagnosed with a chronic or severe lung disease.

If you or someone you love has just been diagnosed with a chronic lung disease, you should definitely attend an inspirational and education “Respiration Rally” in a major city closest to where you live. American Medical Sales and Repairs is proud to be sponsoring the upcoming rallies being held in Portland Oregon, Seattle Washington, Spokane Washington and Honolulu Hawaii!

May 29, 2014April 7, 2021 Scott Ridl

Portable Oxygen Concentrators for Cancer Treatment

Patients with lung cancer experiencing shortness of breath can in turn, start to have a dangerously low blood oxygen level. A low blood oxygen level will further cause complications and make you feel even worse. If you have a good chance of survival, further complications from shortness of breath that usually goes along with lung cancer is definitely something that needs to be treated.

Your doctor might determine that you need to use oxygen therapy, if your blood oxygen level is below where it should be. This would be diagnosed with a few tests, including a blood test. By looking at the results, he or she will be able to write a prescription for how much oxygen you need to be getting, how often, and during which daily activities or specific times of the day you will need to use it.

May 29, 2014April 7, 2021 Scott Ridl

October is Healthy Lung Month

It’s incredibly important to take care of your lungs, whether you have healthy lungs, or a disease such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, you need to keep your lungs working as well as possible. Your whole body depends on your lungs to keep breathing and distributing oxygen-rich blood throughout your body and to get rid of the body’s gaseous waste, carbon dioxide. Your whole body depends on your lungs working correctly, but your brain and heart are two of the major organs that require more oxygen than any other part.

Now that summer is over; many people are going into the colder months of the year, which is when they are more likely to experience trouble breathing. The seasons affect everyone differently, and for many people, October is the beginning of the tougher time of the year. This is an appropriate time to think about taking extra care of your health, and your lungs in particular. Besides following your doctor’s orders on medication and follow-ups, there are many things you can do to help keep your lungs as healthy as possible.

October 17, 2013April 6, 2021 Scott Ridl

Protecting Yourself During the 2013 – 2014 Flu Season

Despite the government shutdown, which started at the beginning of October, there are reports that the flu shot supply hasn’t been directly affected. You should still be able to receive a flu shot just as you did last year. What has been affected, however, is how the flu viruses will be monitored if the shut down continues on through the winter and into the Spring of 2014. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention has partially been shut down, along with other federally funded programs.

Each February, the CDC begins to examine the flu season of the previous year and starts to work toward predicting the next flu season. Most of the predictions and preparations for the new flu shots have already been made, and a large number of the shots have already been produced and distributed. If the shut down had occurred in February, there would definitely have been a huge deficit in flu shots for this flu season, and no analysis or predictions for how this flu season could turn out.

October 17, 2013April 6, 2021 Scott Ridl

Pneumonia and Respiratory Infections Still a Danger in the Summer

Even though illnesses like respiratory infections, colds, the flu and pneumonia are all things that happen more often during the winter, they are still very likely to happen during the late spring and early summer months. People who already have respiratory conditions, such as asthma and COPD are naturally more affected than those with normally functioning lungs. This is even more dangerous with people who have compromised immune systems, on top of the lung diseases.

When anyone else catches a cold or a respiratory infection, they feel bad for a few days, take some antibiotics are are fine. Pneumonia and the flu can be dangerous for the elderly especially, no matter if they have a chronic lung disease or not. Even a cold can send someone with asthma or COPD to the hospital, because of the irritation and excessive production of mucus making it increasingly difficult to breathe. It can bring on acute asthma flare-ups and COPD exacerbations.

June 27, 2013April 6, 2021 Scott Ridl

Symptoms and Warning Signs of Respiratory Diseases

Catch any disease in the early stages is extremely important, and lung diseases and maladies are no different. The sooner a chronic disease or an acute illness is detected, the easier and quicker it will be treated, and the higher chance you have of living through it. Unfortunately, the signs and symptoms of the early stages of diseases like COPD and even lung cancer are usually subtle and often overlooked until the disease has progressed into the advanced stages.

Since this is often the case, it’s important to consider family history of chronic diseases, so you will know to pay close attention to your physical state and to get tested for any diseases that run in your family. If you had relatives who died of lung cancer, you will need to pay special attention, and your doctor will likely order a regular screening to be done.

April 16, 2013April 5, 2021 Scott Ridl

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