what is the danger of low oxygen levels?
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If blood oxygen levels are too low, your body may not work properly. Blood carries oxygen to the cells throughout your body to keep them healthy. Hypoxemia can cause mild problems such as headaches and shortness of breath. In severe cases, it can interfere with heart and brain function.
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Test Overview When the oxygen level is low, carbohydrate breaks down for energy and makes lactic acid. Lactic acid levels get higher when strenuous exercise or other conditions—such as heart failure, a severe infection (sepsis), or shock—lower the flow of blood and oxygen throughout the body.
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At levels 17 percent or below, your mental abilities become impaired. In a sealed environment, as oxygen levels drop from 21% to 17%, the CO2 level will rise to 4%. This level of CO2 can result in symptoms like dizziness, asphyxiation, confusion, fatigue, vertigo, headaches, tinnitus, and even seizures.
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In addition to natural disasters, Everest climbers face a number of life-threatening health risks. In high-altitude settings, there is less oxygen in the atmosphere, and oxygen doesn't diffuse into a climber's blood as well as it would at sea level. That can lead to serious medical problems.
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The American Lung Association says that inhaling oxygen at oxygen bars is unlikely to have a beneficial physiological effect, but adds "there is no evidence that oxygen at the low flow levels used in bars can be dangerous to a normal person's health." People with certain medical conditions are another matter.
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Low or high pulse rate can indicate heart problems. According to Dr. Fred Furgang in his article "Hypoxia, Oxygen, and Pulse Oximetry," a pilot should use supplemental oxygen if the oximeter reading is below 90%, maintain at 91-92% level when doing remedial tasks and above 93% with increased workload.
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A pulmonary embolism (PE) can cause a lack of blood flow that leads to lung tissue damage. It can cause low blood oxygen levels that can damage other organs in the body, too. A PE, particularly a large PE or many clots, can quickly cause serious life-threatening problems and, even death.
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The atmospheric concentration for oxygen is 21% but the minimum required for humans is about 17%, so only a little less than 1/4 of the atmosphere would have to be respirated before the concentration could not support humans.
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If untreated, it can lead to heart attacks, strokes, kidney damage and even premature death. Low blood pressure might therefore seem desirable. However, excessively low blood pressure (hypotension) can cause various problems.
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Normal and low blood oxygen levels A normal blood oxygen level varies between 75 and 100 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). A blood oxygen level below 60 mm Hg is considered low and may require oxygen supplementation, depending on a doctor's decision and the individual case.
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The higher you are in the sky, the less oxygen your body will carry, and less oxygen means higher blood pressure. If you typically have a regular blood pressure or even a low blood pressure, this increase will likely have no effect on you.
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Hypoxia, or oxygen depletion, is an environmental phenomenon where the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water column decreases to a level that can no longer support living aquatic organisms. Hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico is defined as a concentration of dissolved oxygen less than 2 mg/L (2 ppm).
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Below normal: A below-normal blood oxygen level is called hypoxemia. Hypoxemia is often cause for concern. The lower the oxygen level, the more severe the hypoxemia. This can lead to complications in body tissue and organs. Normally, a PaO2 reading below 80 mm Hg or a pulse ox (SpO2) below 95 percent is considered low.
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Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a serious lung condition that causes low blood oxygen. People who develop ARDS are usually ill due to another disease or a major injury. In ARDS, fluid builds up inside the tiny air sacs of the lungs, and surfactant breaks down.
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Blood oxygen levels can be so low that a person with severe anemia can have a heart attack. If you get a physical exam and you have anemia, your results may show: high or low blood pressure.
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Emergency medicine. Oxygen toxicity is a condition resulting from the harmful effects of breathing molecular oxygen (O. ) at increased partial pressures. Severe cases can result in cell damage and death, with effects most often seen in the central nervous system, lungs, and eyes.
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Take a boiler for example; when there is insufficient oxygen for all of the gas in the combustion chamber to be burnt, carbon monoxide is produced. ... This lack of oxygen can then cause cells and body tissue to fail and die.