4 ms·
I measured myself at home in Mexico City and got 93%. I got kind of worried, knowing people sick with COVID-19 can have very low saturation levels without reali
by ornel 6y ago
I measured myself at home in Mexico City and got 93%. I got kind of worried, knowing people sick with COVID-19 can have very low saturation levels without realising it. Then I remembered I was standing at about 2200 m above sea level. Lots of unexpected weirdness happens at high altutude
- amelius 6y agoSo was it really your oxygen saturation level, or was the measurement flawed?
- alecmg 6y agoeven holding your breath for couple seconds will tank saturation, so pretty likely high altitude will do the same until your breathing adjusts to compensate
- Engineering-MD 6y agoIt shouldn’t effect your oxygen saturation’s at all. Respiration is driven by raised CO2 not drops in oxygen in the healthy (COPD is the classic example of where low oxygen levels drive respiratory effort)
- peripitea 6y agoI know I replied to a different comment of yours, but this paper also illustrates how this point, while matching common medical wisdom, is not necessarily correct when accounting for altitude: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(19)30543-1/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-1... (Summary: Healthy children at higher altitude breathe more rapidly.)
- Engineering-MD 6y agoI’ll be honest, a lot if the portable oxygen saturation monitors seem to report slightly out of range readings. It often picks up after a few minutes, I suspect they are calibrated poorly tbh. 94-98% is the desired range.
- peripitea 6y agoThis is only true for people who live close to sea level. At higher altitudes, saturation even down into the high 80s can be normal: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(19)30543-1/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-1...