Are you unsure about the effectiveness of oxygen treatment recommended for treating your COPD? Whenever doctors suggest something new for treating your health problem, you are anxious to know everything about it including risks, side effects and its efficacy. Here we are discussing all such factors that will help you understand the oxygen treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in detail.

How Does Oxygen Treatment Help in COPD?

Oxygen treatment helps to increase the flow of oxygen into your bloodstream and the lungs (1). When the COPD is in bad condition, then the blood oxygen levels become slow and you are in need of more oxygen. With the help of this treatment, you get more oxygen, which helps you to breathe better and also to live longer.

Ways to Deliver Oxygen during the Treatment:

During the treatment, oxygen is delivered into the body by several ways:

• Oxygen-gas cylinders
• Oxygen concentrators
• Liquid-oxygen devices

You are not required to stay in the hospital or at home when the oxygen treatment is being carried out. Since these systems are portable, you can carry on your daily work simultaneously while using it (2).

Results after the Treatment:

It has been observed that the oxygen treatment improves the quality of life of a COPD patient when used for a long duration (3). It is expected to increase the lifespan, especially when your oxygen levels are touching lower level and you are suffering from severe COPD. Once you start the treatment, you experience more energy and less shortness of breath.

Benefits of Oxygen Therapy:

• Oxygen therapy is prescribed for a long duration to the patients suffering from hypoxia or low levels of oxygen in the blood (4). It helps prevents or slows down the onset of heart failure on the right side. Thus, it increases your life span. Similarly, it is also helpful in controlling other COPD symptoms.
• The long-term oxygen treatment is given for minimum 15 hours per day with as much fewer interruptions as possible. In patients with severe COPD, regular use helps reduce the death risk from the low oxygen levels in the blood. You can use it 24 hours a day to reap maximum benefits from this treatment.
• Studies have shown that the use of oxygen treatment at home, for at least 15 hours a day increases the quality of life and helps people live better and longer (5). The therapy offers both long-term as well as short-term in people with severe COPD.
• It has been observed that using oxygen therapy improves confusion and reduces memory problems.
• It has also been known to improve the functioning of an impaired kidney caused due to low oxygen levels.

Risks of Oxygen Treatment

Health experts say that there are no risks associated with the oxygen therapy, but you must follow the instructions of the doctors to get maximum results. However, the doctors warn that oxygen being a fire hazard; you must always follow the safety rules. You must avoid using oxygen around open flames, lit cigarettes and anything that is flammable.

That is why; people who are using this therapy should not smoke⁽⁵⁾. If you cannot do without smoking, then, you should avoid using this treatment because a small negligence can lead to an explosion or fire.

Oxygen therapy is recommended to increase the PaO2 in between 60 and 65mm Hg or to take the saturations from 90 to 92%. A higher flow of oxygen can be dangerous.

Using Oxygen Therapy in Different Situations

You require the oxygen treatment more in certain situation such as when you exercise, during sleep or on an air trip. The oxygen levels in case of COPD patients drop, especially when they start exercising and hence taking this therapy during exercise keeps you more active (6).

Similarly, during sleep the breathing slows down, as the body is not in need of much oxygen at this time. However, sleep-related disorders have been found to be quite common in COPD (7) and hence the continuation of this treatment during sleep is advisable.

Drop in the oxygen level as you go to a higher elevation during a flight can prove to be problematic for the COPD patients and hence oxygen therapy should be continued while on the flight.

If all the precautions are taken properly and the therapy is carried out according to the instructions of the doctors, oxygen therapy is an extremely beneficial treatment for the COPD patients.

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by Daiwik Suresh Gejji via STYLECRAZE