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Disease can be treated using pressurized air
Injection For Patients Who Cannot Breathe
An injection that delivers oxygen directly into the bloodstream for patients who cannot breathe has been invented by scientists at Boston Children's Hospital, according a report published in Science Translational Medicine. The authors explained that when patients suffer from an obstructed airway or acute lung failure, they urgently need oxygen to reach their blood, otherwise they have brain injury or suffer from cardiac arrest.
The researchers designed an injection filled with tiny, gas-filled microparticles that can be administered directly into the bloodstream, supplying it with much-needed oxygen.
The microparticles are made of a single layer of fatty molecules that surround a miniscule pocket of oxygen - they are placed in a liquid solution and injected into the patients.
John Kheir and team say that patients who are injected with this solution, may regain near-normal blood oxygen levels within seconds.
In animal experiments, the authors reported that they could beep the animals alive without breathing for 15 minutes, drastically reducing the incidence of organ injury and cardiac arrest (the heart stops completely).
The oxygen injection may buy the patient valuable time John Kheir explained that the microparticle solutions are easy to carry around, and could conveniently be utilized to keep people who cannot breathe alive, giving emergency personnel more time to get patients to a safe place where more sophisticated life-saving procedures can be carried out.
The authors say the microparticle solution injections could not be used for more than fifteen to thirty minutes, because they contain fluid that would overload the blood if used for any longer.
These are not blood substitutes, Kheir stressed. Blood substitutes carry oxygen, but are of limited use when the lungs are not working and cannot oxygenate them. These microparticles are specifically designed for people who cannot breathe.
After caring for a young girl who had severe pneumonia in 2006 and suffered severe brain injury because of extremely low blood-oxygen levels, Kheir starting looking into the idea of injectable oxygen.
The little girl died before the medical team could get her on a heart-lung machine.
It was several years before the team managed to get the microparticles safe for injection. Kheir said "The effort was truly multidisciplinary. It took chemical engineers, particle scientists and medical doctors to get the mix just right."
They used a sonicator - a device which emits high-intensity sound waves to mix lipids and oxygen together. Oxygen gas gets trapped inside tiny particles, about two to four micrometers in size - too small to see with the naked eye. They found that a solution in which 70% of the volume consisted of oxygen was just right for human blood.
In previous studies in the early 1900s, scientists attempted to oxygenate blood with intravenous oxygen, but they failed. Sometimes they caused fatal gas embolisms.
reference: Copyright: Medical News Today
Cluster headaches explained
It was discovered more than a century ago that cluster headaches (CH) are different from migraines. The intense, unilateral pain that this illness creates around the eye has earned it the name "suicide headache" because of how severe it is.
Important Information About Cluster Headaches
1. 1-4 patients per general practitioner in the UK; estimated to be between 34,000 and 150,000 and 3–4 times more common in men
2. Eye, temple, or forehead pain that is quite intense, congestion in the nose, swelling in the eyelids and perspiration of the face
3. The precise cause is unknown, but there may be a genetic component (1 in 20 have a family history)
4. Treatments, both acute and preventative, are advised. Home oxygen therapy up to five times a day for 15 minutes, at 100% oxygen
Treatment with Oxygen for Cluster Headaches 80% of the time, safe and efficient. Used especially for attacks at night and generally regarded as the most successful course of treatment
Alternative Medical Interventions such as home oxygen therapy is still the best option for treating cluster headaches, even though some patients find relief with other therapies like acupuncture.
Our speciality at OxygenWorldwide is offering oxygen treatments for a range of illnesses, including cluster headaches. Our staff can help you set up a portable oxygen supply for travel.
Living without breathing is now possible!
This may seem like something out of a science fiction movie: researchers have designed microparticles that can be injected directly into the bloodstream to quickly oxygenate your body, even if you can't breathe anymore. It's one of the best medical breakthroughs in recent years, and one that could save millions of lives every year.
The invention, developed by a team at Boston Children's Hospital, will allow medical teams to keep patients alive and well for 15 to 30 minutes despite major respiratory failure. This is enough time for doctors and emergency personnel to act without risking a heart attack or permanent brain injuries in the patient.
The solution has already been successfully tested on animals under critical lung failure. When the doctors injected this liquid into the patient's veins, it restored oxygen in their blood to near-normal levels, granting them those precious additional minutes of life.
Particles of fat and oxygen
The particles are composed of oxygen gas pocketed in a layer of lipids, a natural molecule that usually stores energy or serves as a component to cell membranes. Lipids can be waxes, some vitamins, monoglycerides, diglycerides, triglycerides, phospholipids, or—as in this case—fats.
These fatty oxygen particles are about two to four micrometers in size. They are suspended in a liquid solution that can be easily carried and used by paramedics, emergency crews and intensive care personnel. This seemingly magic elixir carries "three to four times the oxygen content of our own red blood cells."
Similar solutions have failed in the past because they caused gas embolism, rather than oxygenating the cells. According to John Kheir, MD at the Department of Cardiology at Boston Children's Hospital, they solved the problem by using deformable particles, rather than bubbles:
We have engineered around this problem by packaging the gas into small, deformable particles. They dramatically increase the surface area for gas exchange and are able to squeeze through capillaries where free gas would get stuck.
Kheir had the idea of an injected oxygen solution started after he had to treat a little girl in 2006. Because of a lung hemorrhage caused by pneumonia, the girl sustained severe brain injuries which, ultimately, lead to her death before the medical team could place her in a heart-lung machine.
Soon after, Kheir assembled a team of chemical engineers, particle scientists, and medical doctors to work on this idea, which had promising results from the very beginning:
Some of the most convincing experiments were the early ones. We drew each other's blood, mixed it in a test tube with the microparticles, and watched blue blood turn immediately red, right before our eyes.
It sounds like magic, but it was just the start of what, after years of investigation, became this real life-giving liquid in a bottle.
This is what the future is about. And it's a beautiful one indeed, one that is arriving earlier than we ever could have expected. I wonder if this would find its way to other uses. I can see it as an emergency injection in a spaceship, for example. But what about getting a shot for diving? [ScienceDaily]
Image by Filip Fluxa/Shutterstock
Luckily not all traveling babies require these...
Hoods provide the perfect wear for babies Babies with heart or lung problems may need to breathe increased amounts of oxygen to get normal levels of oxygen in their blood.
There are several different ways to deliver oxygen to a baby. Which method is used depends on how much oxygen is needed and whether the baby needs a breathing machine. An oxygen hood is used for babies who can breathe on their own but still need extra oxygen.
A hood is a plastic dome or box with warm, moist oxygen inside. The hood is placed over the baby's head. Too much or too little oxygen can be harmful. If the cells in the body get too little oxygen, energy production decreases. With too little energy, cells may not work well and may die. Too much oxygen can also cause injury.
Breathing too much oxygen can damage the lung. Under certain conditions, too much oxygen in the blood may also lead to problems in the brain and eye. Babies with certain heart conditions may also need lower levels of oxygen in the blood.
Your baby’s doctors and nurses will try to balance how much oxygen your baby needs. These hoods provide babies and young infants with the perfect medical solution to get the right amount of oxygen in these early stages of life and how important oxygen is in the development at the right levels saving life.
Crystal takes over POC's
Being able to breathe underwater has long been a fascination for mankind, but the bulky oxygen tanks and face masks take some of the romance out of it.
They could soon no longer be needed however, thanks to the creation of the "Aquaman Crystal", or to use its proper name, "[{(bpbp)Co2II(NO3)}2(NH2bdc)](NO3)2 * 2H2O".
Just a spoonful of the crystal can absorb all the oxygen from a room.
The material is able to store the gas at a much higher concentration than oxygen tanks, meaning it would be far smaller and lighter to carry, and can slowly release oxygen when put under a small amount of heat.
Professor Christine McKenzie said the crystal could be valuable for lung cancer patients who must carry heavy tanks around with them, but "also divers may one day be able to leave the oxygen tanks at home and instead get oxygen from this material as it 'filters' and concentrates oxygen from surrounding air or water."
"A few grains contain enough oxygen for one breath, and as the material can absorb oxygen from the water around the diver and supply the diver with it, the diver will not need to bring more than these few grains," she added.
"When the substance is saturated with oxygen, it can be compared to an oxygen tank containing pure oxygen under pressure - the difference is that this material can hold three times as much oxygen."
The "Aquaman Crystal" is sponge-like in consistency and uses cobalt bound in an organic molecule, getting its nickname from the DC comic book character that can swim underwater.
"Cobalt gives the new material precisely the molecular and electronic structure that enables it to absorb oxygen from its surroundings," McKenzie said. "Small amounts of metals are essential for the absorption of oxygen, so actually it is not entirely surprising to see this effect in our new material."
Scientists are now looking at whether the release of oxygen can be triggered by light, though at this stage the crystal is difficult to synthesize in large amounts due to its complex chemical formula.
Update: A representative for Syddansk University has issued a revised estimate of the compound's efficiency. They told Vice in a statement: "I am just updating our story on our website, because it turns out that Prf McKenzie made a calculation error. Pls note that it is not a SPOONFUL of this stuff, that we need to rid a room of oxygen. It is a bucket (10 litres). We apologize."
The material can however draw oxygen from water just as easily as from air, so it remains an interesting proposition for the future of underwater diving
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Ref The Independent,
Friday 03 October 2014
COPD & why you should switch to Portable Oxygen Therapy
Oxygen and Travel – we have it covered
Travelling with oxygen has become much easier with the development of portable oxygen concentrators (POCs). These devices run on a battery pack, can be recharged, plugged into the wall or a cigarette lighter in a car, and can be taken on airplanes.
There are several makes and models, with widely differing features, so it is important to choose the one that is best for you, that delivers enough oxygen to keep your saturation 90 percent or greater at rest and with activity.
Some tips for air travel with POC's:
· Start making arrangements with the airline well ahead of time to find out which POC is allowed. Many airlines list accepted manufacturers and brands on their websites.
· Allow plenty of extra time for check-in.
· Carry several extra battery packs. FAA regulations require enough battery time to cover 150 percent of the flight time.
· POC's and battery packs can be rented.
· Carry an extra three-way plug for recharging your POC in the airport. People often need to recharge their electronic equipment in the airport during layovers, and this will help assure that you will be able to recharge yours.
· POC's are exempt from the carry-on allowance.
· Carry a prescription for oxygen, signed by your doctor.
For more information about oxygen supply whilst on holiday please enquire now at www.oxygenworldwide.com and register for our SOS back up service.
