Uses and Benefits of Pulse Oximeters

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A pulse oximeter is a device intended for the non-invasive measurement of arterial blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) and pulse rate. Oximeters are widely used in hospitals, medical clinics, operating rooms, and homes. Both oxygen saturation level and pulse rate are vital signs of a patient. Oximeters are inexpensive and can report an accurate reading within seconds. Speed is important especially in an emergency situation.

A pulse oximeter is used medically by patients with asthma, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic obstructive airway diseases (COAD), and other respiratory conditions. Patients with serious respiratory problems should have their SpO2 levels check regularly and especially if they are not feeling well.

For many patients, doctors often recommend exercise to improve their physical state. However exercise can result in increasing shortness of breath, patients should monitor their oxygen saturation with pulse oximeters while exercising so they can adjust the pace as the oxygen saturation decreases.

Patients with serious cardiac conditions would often experience low SpO2 levels. Pulse oximeters would help them to monitor their conditions and use supplementary oxygen when required. Pleth graph produced by a pulse oximeter shows the change in blood volume during a heart pulse is often a good indication of certain heart conditions.

Pilots, mountain climbers, and people in high altitudes also use pulse oximeters to help guard against hypoxia.

Proper breathing techniques, such as pursed-lip breathing, can increase your oxygen saturation level. Lots of patients with low oxygen saturations are able to increase their saturations all the way up to 93% with good breathing techniques. Practice and pulse oximeter will help patients to achieve this level of efficiency.

The pulse oximeter can also help athletes in high altitude training. The reduction in oxygen level can increase red blood cells in athletes and help to increase his/her endurance.

Hold the SUGAR!

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If you were to add a few teaspoons to coffee, then snack on toast with jam, and choose pop and barbecue chips at lunch – guess what? You would have just consumed 18 teaspoons (72 grams) of sugar.

Sugar contains simple carbohydrates but no other nutrients, and because it is in so many food products, it can add significant calories to your diet if you’re not careful. Read on to learn about sugar and how you can decrease your daily intake. One teaspoon (4 g) of sugar equals 15 calories.

Why you should cut back

According to Statistics Canada, the average Canadian eats about 23 teaspoons (92 grams) of added sugar each day from a combination of packaged and prepared foods. That’s a lot of sugar, considering that the Dietary Reference Intakes suggest we consume no more than 12 teaspoons (48 grams) of added sugar in a 2,200 calorie diet.

Sugar naturally occurs in fruit, vegetables and milk, but these are not considered “added” sugars and are not part of the 12-teaspoon (48 grams) daily maximum. These foods provide an abundance of vitamins and minerals and are important dietary staples.

So if you’re eating 23 tsp/92 g of added sugars a day, it means you’re ingesting 345 empty calories. If you fill up on sweets instead of more nutritious foods such as vegetables, fish and whole grains, your diet can become deficient in important nutrients. High-sugar diets may contribute to obesity and increased triglyceride levels, which are both risk factors for heart disease.

Where’s the sugar?

Most Canadians know that candy and pop contain lots of sugar. But what surprises most people is that foods such as tomato sauce, deli meats, salad dressing and barbecue chips are also loaded with sugar. Even though these foods may not taste sweet, they can still contain “hidden” sugar, since sweeteners can be used as preservatives, browning agents or to provide texture. If you don’t see the word “sugar” on an ingredient list, look for these alternative descriptions:

  • Glucose
  • Fructose
  • Glucose/fructose or high fructose corn syrup
  • Honey
  • Cane juice
  • Sucrose
  • Syrup (corn, malt, golden, maple, refiner’s)

When these words appear in the ingredient list, the sugar content may be high. Use the Nutrition Facts table to determine total sugar content. Four grams is equal to a teaspoon of sugar, so a food with 16 g of sugar would contain four teaspoons of the sweet stuff.

Are some sweeteners better than others?

All sweeteners are high in calories and low in overall nutritional value, so you need to watch the total amount of added sugar you consume, regardless of the type. If you must use a sweetener, opt for maple syrup, honey or molasses, since they have more antioxidants than corn syrup or white sugar.While options such as brown sugar or honey contain trace amounts of minerals, you’d have to eat cups and cups (which I don’t recommend!) for the amounts to be nutritionally significant.  

 

Athletes Keep Tabs on Low Oxygen Levels with Pulse Oximeter

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Athletes and sports stars the world over use oxygen to increase recovery time and reduce lactic acid build-up. Low oxygen levels can cause fatigue, headaches, nausea and a general feeling of ill health. While some people may accept these symptoms as a side effect of strenuous exercise, identifying low oxygen levels in the first place could be the perfect prompt to take supplemental oxygen. A pulse oximeter is compact, light and easy to use anytime and anywhere. It has been designed to be used in a variety of situations to monitor blood oxygen saturation levels, and in particular to take a spot check before during and after exercise. If you partake in recreational sports such as scuba diving, mountaineering or mountain biking, you too could benefit from checking for low oxygen levels. A study in Germany revealed that athletes that took supplemental oxygen for ten minutes a day over a 6 week periods greatly improved their overall sporting performance.