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Perhaps a dumb question but I Googled and looked in the article. Do people spend 24/7 in iron lungs or simply do "sessions" or sleep in them? It was unclear to

by jsonne 5y ago

Perhaps a dumb question but I Googled and looked in the article. Do people spend 24/7 in iron lungs or simply do "sessions" or sleep in them? It was unclear to me how they actually function.

tdeck 5y ago
An iron lung works by lowering the pressure around your body, while keeping the pressure around your head at atmospheric pressure. That gradient pushes air into your lungs, and then the iron lung raises pressure around your body to squeeze out that air. People who have had polio may lose function in their diaphragm muscles and require ventilation at all times. An iron lung user may exit the iron lung temporarily and use some other kind of ventilator, and some people have learned to force air into their lungs using the muscles in their mouth and throat without any machine. As you can imagine the latter can be tiring: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossopharyngeal_breathing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossopharyngeal_breathing
retrac 5y ago
Depends on the patient and the cause. Some require them 24/7. In the case of polio, the nerves controlling the diaphragm are sometimes affected. This can be partial, with a reduced but present breathing, or completely absent. In either case, but especially when only partial, people can often adapt when conscious and upright. Other muscles may not be affected, and they can use non-diaphragm muscles to expand/contract the rib cage. In mild cases this is just an assist and provides the extra ventilation for strenuous activity. In serious cases it's required to keep them conscious. While such adaption becomes an unconscious reflex, it's still largely suppressed when asleep. There are some parallels to how people with obstructive sleep apnea adapt. They may be able to breathe (e.g. through their mouth) during the day but at night, the instinctive breathing process isn't working quite right. The result is usually some kind of sleep apnea. Waking up feeling suffocated and having to will yourself to breathe. In the extreme, if that reflex doesn't kick in either, it could cause a hypoxic event, that inhibits breathing even more, and that's potentially fatal.

by jsonne 5y ago

Perhaps a dumb question but I Googled and looked in the article. Do people spend 24/7 in iron lungs or simply do "sessions" or sleep in them? It was unclear to me how they actually function.

tdeck 5y ago

An iron lung works by lowering the pressure around your body, while keeping the pressure around your head at atmospheric pressure. That gradient pushes air into your lungs, and then the iron lung raises pressure around your body to squeeze out that air. People who have had polio may lose function in their diaphragm muscles and require ventilation at all times. An iron lung user may exit the iron lung temporarily and use some other kind of ventilator, and some people have learned to force air into their lungs using the muscles in their mouth and throat without any machine. As you can imagine the latter can be tiring: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossopharyngeal_breathing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossopharyngeal_breathing

retrac 5y ago

Depends on the patient and the cause. Some require them 24/7. In the case of polio, the nerves controlling the diaphragm are sometimes affected. This can be partial, with a reduced but present breathing, or completely absent. In either case, but especially when only partial, people can often adapt when conscious and upright. Other muscles may not be affected, and they can use non-diaphragm muscles to expand/contract the rib cage. In mild cases this is just an assist and provides the extra ventilation for strenuous activity. In serious cases it's required to keep them conscious. While such adaption becomes an unconscious reflex, it's still largely suppressed when asleep. There are some parallels to how people with obstructive sleep apnea adapt. They may be able to breathe (e.g. through their mouth) during the day but at night, the instinctive breathing process isn't working quite right. The result is usually some kind of sleep apnea. Waking up feeling suffocated and having to will yourself to breathe. In the extreme, if that reflex doesn't kick in either, it could cause a hypoxic event, that inhibits breathing even more, and that's potentially fatal.