Too much oxygen may harm lung patients
Gillian Cavell may not directly benefit from the new lung disease treatment that she helped bring about, but she is happy it will help others suffering from the ‘‘cruel disease’’.
Cavell, 74, has emphysema, making her one of an estimated 200,000 Kiwis suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Despite knowing the condition will likely lead to her death, she’s an eager participant in studies related to lung disease.
The latest research by the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand (MRINZ) has found that lung disease patients have been receiving too much oxygen while undergoing treatment.
The findings, released today, are likely to help COPD sufferers worldwide.
The study found using oxygen as the main gas for nebulisation, the process where medication is administered by mist inhaled into the lungs, was potentially dangerous for acutely unwell COPD patients.
MRINZ director and study author Professor Richard Beasley said up until now, it had been thought that using oxygen to deliver nebuliser therapy was safe for patients admitted to hospital with acute flare-ups.
But the study had found this was not the case, and in fact could cause harm.
‘‘Our results show excessive oxygen actually reduces ventilation and, in some patients, causes a substantial build-up of carbon dioxide to risky levels.’’
COPD is the fourth most common cause of death in New Zealand after cancer, heart disease and stroke.
Cavell was one of 90 COPD sufferers in involved in the study.
In 2014, Cavell got severe pneumonia and ended up in intensive care. She was near death and required resuscitation. Next time, she said, she would not be revived.
‘‘I’ve had a good life, I’ve had a fun life.’’
Cavell, who smoked in her 20s, weighs 38 kilograms, her body whittled down from the sheer effort of breathing.
She is not angry or sad that her life may be taken early by the disease. ‘‘Without a shadow of a doubt I should never have smoked,’’ she said.
Despite the risk to her immune system, Cavell hopes to go to the Eminem concert in Wellington next year.
The Health Research Councilfunded study, published in the international journal BMC Pulmonary Medicine, followed patients at Wellington Hospital with acute COPD from 2015 to 2016.
Results showed 40 per cent of those treated with oxygen-driven nebulisers had increased carbon dioxide levels in the blood, as opposed to none in those whose treatment was driven by only air.
‘‘Without a shadow ofa doubt I should never have smoked.’’ Gillian Cavell, emphysema patient