"Silent hypoxia" has attracted attention. Home oximeters are "hard to find"
Are oximeters and oxygen concentrators too hot?
Recently, there has been widespread concern about the fact that the elderly may have hidden symptoms if they become positive.
According to reports, because elderly patients are unresponsive to hypoxia, and even do not feel chest tightness or dyspnea at all, this phenomenon can be called "silent hypoxia".
If the hypoxia cannot be corrected within a short period of time, the patient can easily develop severe pneumonia.
Some doctors suggest that vulnerable groups should receive antiviral drug treatment as early as possible in the early stage of the disease, and prepare finger clip oximeters for severe monitoring.
Relevant reminders have attracted the attention of children with elderly families. At the same time, many people with "a peace of mind and multiple protections" began to purchase home-use monitors online. Suddenly, oximeters and oxygen generators appeared. Out of stock situation.
Is this kind of household product necessary for everyone and does it work?
Phenomenon
The oximeter is out of stock, the price is increased and the purchase is restricted
After the demand for fever-reducing and cough-relieving drugs and N95 masks soared, there was also a rush to buy oximeters.
According to reports, some dealers are selling oximeters on social platforms; some oximeters are out of stock on major e-commerce platforms.
The data shows that in the past month, the average daily search index of the oximeter was 8956, a month-on-month increase of 47% and a year-on-year increase of 223802%.
A reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily noticed that on an e-commerce platform, the oximeter was not only out of stock, but the price had also doubled.
There is a finger-clip home oximeter with a monthly sales volume of more than 100,000 units. The store’s purchase page shows that there are 10 types of this product to choose from, but currently there are 9 types including charging models, upgraded models, color screen models, and excellent models. The oximeters all showed that they were out of stock, and only the basic oximeter of 118 yuan was left to choose. However, many buyers said that the price of the basic oximeter in this store was still fifty or sixty yuan half a month ago. Now it has doubled.
Some buyers also said that they placed an order of 39 yuan, but the merchant did not deliver the goods after the price increase, and only delivered the goods after they complained.
Another store with a monthly sales volume of over 200,000 also implemented a measure to limit the purchase of one account per account. 4 of the 6 products were out of stock. Although the other 2 models can be ordered, they are pre-sales and need to wait for 15 days before they can be sold. Ship.
According to a buyer, the price she bought during the "Double 11" was still more than 70 yuan, but now it costs 339 yuan, which has directly increased by three or four times.
follow up
Online booking takes 2 to 15 days
A reporter from the Beiqing Daily found that at present, oximeters are basically sold out on major e-commerce platforms and offline pharmacies, and there is no guarantee when they will be available in stock.
The oximeters are basically sold out in offline pharmacies, and the sales staff of the pharmacies all said they were "not sure" when they would be available.
A salesperson at a pharmacy in Tongzhou, Beijing, said that the oximeters in the store had been sold out before and had not been restocked. Now the store can accept pre-orders for 199 yuan each. , these are not guaranteed.
The salesperson of another pharmacy said that the oximeters in the store have also been sold out, and customers come to ask about the status of the oximeters from time to time. Now the company is actively distributing goods to each store, but how long will it take for the store to match them? How much can be matched, these are not sure, we can only wait.
Subsequently, a reporter from the Beiqing Daily searched major e-commerce platforms and found that most oximeter products were out of stock, and some models were in a pre-sale state, and the delivery time ranged from 2 to 15 days, or did not show pre-sale The time directly prompts that the delivery is delayed due to logistics.
In addition, a reporter from the Beiqing Daily noticed that the oxygen generator has also been out of stock.
On an e-commerce platform, the price of a household oxygen generator ranges from 2,000 yuan to 7,000 yuan.
In the three flagship stores that were randomly consulted, all of them were out of stock.
View
Blood oxygen saturation is a fluctuation index related instrument that is not necessary for home use
Blood oxygen value is not an absolute indicator for medical diagnosis
How useful are the home version oximeters and oxygen concentrators?
Is it necessary to "one for each person"?
Li Jianren, the attending physician of the Beijing Emergency Center, told Beiqing Daily that the oximeter, also known as the pulse oximeter, can not only monitor the patient's blood oxygen saturation, but also display the pulse.
The working principle of finger-clip pulse oximeters common on e-commerce platforms is very simple. It uses infrared light technology to scan the blood vessels of the extremities, and uses the reflection of hemoglobin to display the indicators.
In terms of price, the household version of the pulse oximeter costs tens of dollars, while the simplest small medical version costs thousands of dollars.
However, home and medical pulse oximeters are not the same in terms of accuracy and usage requirements.
Li Jianren said that the biggest advantage of the pulse oximeter is that it is more portable than large-scale comprehensive monitors. The small medical version of the pulse oximeter is used more in the process of first aid and transfer, but severe patients generally choose comprehensive monitors. "Because the indicators we monitor are not only blood oxygen and pulse, but also breathing, body temperature and non-invasive blood pressure monitoring. The blood oxygen value does not reflect all problems, nor is it an absolute indicator."
He introduced that blood oxygen saturation itself is a fluctuating indicator, and changes in value are affected by many factors, including seasons, whether the fingertips are damaged, personal activities, and physical conditions.
Home oximeter monitoring is only for reference
Li Jianjian suggested that if there is no blood oxygen monitor at home, you can observe the mind of the elderly, because the state of consciousness can reflect the blood supply to the brain.
If there is profuse sweating and cold extremities, it is necessary to make a comprehensive judgment based on whether the blood pressure and body temperature are normal.
In addition, it should be noted that monitoring and monitoring products are different from thermometers and electronic sphygmomanometers. Even if they meet the regular inspection requirements when they go on the market, there will be some problems as the frequency of use increases.
The medical equipment used in the hospital must be regularly sent for inspection, and strong inspection and calibration are required to ensure that it is effective.
Li Jianjian pointed out that the home pulse oximeter only serves as a reference value and cannot be used as a diagnostic standard. It needs to be combined with other clinical manifestations and inspection indicators to determine whether there is really hypoxia.
The concentration of household oxygen generators is difficult to reach the medical standard
Regarding the problem of whether the blood oxygen saturation is too low, whether it can be treated with a household oxygen generator, Li Jianjian introduced that if the patient has a chronic respiratory disease in the past, has severe dyspnea, and at the same time the blood oxygen drops or the pulse speeds up, At this time, emergency treatment is required, and the measures taken include oxygen inhalation.
However, from the medical point of view, oxygen generators are generally not used to inhale oxygen, because the principle of household oxygen generators includes chemical reaction to produce oxygen, molecular sieves, etc. The chemical principle is to generate oxygen by adding tablets to produce chemical reactions; molecular sieves are to pass oxygen in the atmosphere through Molecular sieves come out, but the oxygen concentration produced by these methods is difficult to guarantee.
Medical oxygen cylinders are used to ensure the amount and concentration of inhaled oxygen.
Perhaps a household oxygen generator is more convenient, but the concentration cannot be measured and is not easy to grasp. At the same time, how long the concentration can be maintained is also a problem.
He introduced that from a medical point of view, 2 liters to 3 liters per minute is a low-flow oxygen inhalation, 3 liters to 5 liters is a medium flow, and more than 5 liters is a high-flow oxygen inhalation.
"It requires high-flow oxygen inhalation to maintain 90%, which means that there is a problem with the respiratory system. From the standard of oxygen inhalation, nasal cannula oxygen inhalation, mask oxygen inhalation, oxygen storage mask oxygen inhalation, or even a non-invasive ventilator or a Create a ventilator to support it. For ordinary people, it is simply impossible to operate at home."
General healthy families do not need to configure oxygen machines
In Li Jianjian's view, many people buy these equipment for emergency only to solve the problem of having or not.
Even if the medical personnel arrive at the scene, they need to ask about the basic symptoms first, and make a comprehensive judgment based on the past history and the results of the examination.
If the blood oxygen saturation is only 85% on the device, but the consciousness is clear, the activities are normal, and there is no discomfort, then there is no need to take too many measures at this time, because the blood oxygen saturation is not an absolute indicator.
As for what groups of people need oxygen generators, Li Tong, chief physician of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Beijing You'an Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, once said in an interview with the media that oxygen generators are mainly used by patients with chronic respiratory diseases, and ordinary healthy families do not need to use oxygen generators at home. Configure the oxygen generator.
Li Tong once believed that if chest tightness, wheezing, dyspnea or other symptoms of hypoxemia occur, he should go to the hospital immediately. It is not advisable to use an oxygen generator to inhale oxygen at home. Causes oxygen poisoning and is dangerous.
(Beijing Youth Daily article/Reporter Song Xia Li Tiezhu intern Sun Jiayi)