Stay in the Mountains

The Silent Killer

“As we age, most of our functions deteriorate, and few improve. Each part of the oxygen transport system is affected. We don’t breathe quite as well, our lungs are a bit stiffer and oxygen doesn’t pass as readily from air to blood. Our heart can’t beat as fast, or as hard, and often its muscle doesn’t receive enough blood due to narrowed arteries.  The cells may also go hungry because small blood vessels are clogged . The brain may not get all the oxygen needed for complex decisions and judgment suffers, along with memory and reflexes. Of course, some people age early, and some age late, but for all of us there comes a time when we simply cannot do everything we wish.” Charles S. Houston, M.D. Aging and Altitude

Hypoxia

Hypoxia is a lack of oxygen in the tissues, especially the heart.  Long-term hypoxia leads to high altitude polycythemia (HAPC), manifested as hyperplasia of red blood cells, increased blood viscosity, and dizziness, headache, and shortness of breath. High altitude polycythemia affects individual’s cognitive functioning, and can also affect sleep quality, subsequently affecting cognitive function, resulting in the decline of attention span and attention transfer ability, short-term memory, attention, thinking flexibility, and other cognitive functions  and the lower the sleep quality, the worse the cognitive level.

Sleep:  The main culprit

Sleep.  Sleep.  Sleep.  As much as we like sleep, you may not be getting enough.  To make matters worse, everyone’s oxygen levels in the blood are lower during sleep.  Everyone’s. If your waking oxygen saturation is borderline (89-90), your o2 level may drop to levels that are damaging to your heart and brain.  Low nightly oxygen is the reason many are on CPAPs and supplemental oxygen.  Frankly anyone over 60 should look into some type of supplemental oxygen, because the damage may go unnoticed, until its too late.  Talk to your doctor today.

Oxygen Monitoring

One of the most important measurements is a person’s oxygen level during the different stages of sleep. When the level falls below what the body needs to function normally, it is called oxygen desaturation.  This can be tested with a night pulse oximeter.   This not only tells the doctor how severe OSA is but is also an indication of future health concerns.  You may ask your doctor to order a night sleep o2 test, request a sleep study, or order night sleep oximeter from Amazon.  By oxygenating sleeping rooms, we have seen o2 blood saturation levels rise by 10 points.  Again, talk to your doctor.

You can stay

Florida is great, but only if you choose to live there.  Not when you are forced to move because of lack of oxygen.  With o2rooms room oxygenation service, we can give you Florida at night, but you can wake up in Mountains to lead a full active life, not hampered by oxygen related health issues.