DEVICE SPOTS LUNG PROBLEMS BEFORE YOU GET BREATHLESS

AS GOOD Health revealed last month, patients with severe lung disease are advised to monitor their health at home with a pulse oximeter, a device that measures oxygen levels in the blood. A drop in levels can occur before any other symptoms of Covid-19 emerge.

An oximeter can be purchased for as little as £20 from chemists or online. Placed on the fingertip (some work on the ear), it emits beams of light that pass through the skin to a sensor on the other side. Oxygenated and deoxygenated blood absorb light differently, and the device uses this to estimate the amount of oxygen in the blood. A reading of above 95 per cent is normal for a healthy person. GP Dr Nick Summerton suggests that when patients first get a pulse oximeter, they take a reading to learn what a normal level is for them. ‘After that, if they get any Covid-19 symptoms, they should monitor it every few hours,’ he says. ‘If their oxygen saturation drops by 2 or 3 per cent, they should call their GP, specialist nurse or 111.’ Richard Levitan, an A&E specialist in the U.S., suggested last week that otherwise

healthy people may also want to consider getting a device.

He told the CBS television audience: ‘This disease kills by silent hypoxia [oxygen deprivation] and patients should understand that shortness of breath is a late sign. The public should think of an oximeter the way they do a thermometer.’

In Britain, some GPs are giving oximeters to patients who are self-isolating.

However, Martin Godfrey, a GP in South London, said that dishing them out randomly could cause shortages. ‘They’re only needed for people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,’ he says.