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Human beings depend on oxygen for life. All organs require oxygen for metabolism but the brain and heart are particularly sensitive to a lack of oxygen. Shortage of oxygen in the body is called hypoxia. A serious shortage of oxygen for a few minutes is fatal. During anaesthesia, patients’ airways may become obstructed, their breathing may become. An oxygen saturation level, also known as O2 sat, is simply the measurement for the amount of oxygen in your bloodstream. All organs in the human body need oxygen to function. Hemoglobin — also known as haemoglobin and by the initials Hb or Hgb — is a protein found in red blood cells. This protein carries oxygen to all of your organs. A blood oxygen level test measures the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood. It also checks your blood's acid-base balance. Abnormal results can mean there's a problem with your lungs or kidneys.

Oxygen saturation is the fraction of oxygen-saturated hemoglobin relative to total hemoglobin (unsaturated + saturated) in the blood. The human body requires and regulates a very precise and specific balance of oxygen in the blood. Normal arterial blood oxygen saturation levels in humans are 95–100 percent. If the level is below 90 percent, it is considered low and called hypoxemia.^[1] Arterial blood oxygen levels below 80 percent may compromise organ function, such as the brain and heart, and should be promptly addressed. Continued low oxygen levels may lead to respiratory or cardiac arrest. Oxygen therapy may be used to assist in raising blood oxygen levels. Oxygenation occurs when oxygen molecules (O
₂) enter the tissues of the body. For example, blood is oxygenated in the lungs, where oxygen molecules travel from the air and into the blood. Oxygenation is commonly used to refer to medical oxygen saturation.

Definition[edit]

In medicine, oxygen saturation, commonly referred to as 'sats', measures the percentage of hemoglobin binding sites in the bloodstream occupied by oxygen.^[2] At low partial pressures of oxygen, most hemoglobin is deoxygenated. At around 90% (the value varies according to the clinical context) oxygen saturation increases according to an oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation curve and approaches 100% at partial oxygen pressures of >11 kPa. A pulse oximeter relies on the light absorption characteristics of saturated hemoglobin to give an indication of oxygen saturation.

Physiology[edit]

The body maintains a stable level of oxygen saturation for the most part by chemical processes of aerobic metabolism associated with breathing. Using the respiratory system, red blood cells, specifically the hemoglobin, gather oxygen in the lungs and distribute it to the rest of the body. The needs of the body's blood oxygen may fluctuate such as during exercise when more oxygen is required ^[3] or when living at higher altitudes. A blood cell is said to be 'saturated' when carrying a normal amount of oxygen.^[4] Both too high and too low levels can have adverse effects on the body.^[5]

Measurement[edit]

An SaO₂ (arterial oxygen saturation, as determined by an arterial blood gas test^[6]) value below 90% indicates hypoxemia (which can also be caused by anemia). Hypoxemia due to low SaO₂ is indicated by cyanosis. Oxygen saturation can be measured in different tissues:^[6]

• Venous oxygen saturation (SvO₂) is the percentage of oxygenated hemoglobin returning to the right side of the heart. It can be measured to see if oxygen delivery meets the tissues' demands. SvO₂ typically varies between 60% and 80%.^[7] A lower value indicates that the body is in lack of oxygen, and ischemic diseases occur. This measurement is often used under treatment with a heart lung machine (extracorporeal circulation), and can give the perfusionist an idea of how much flow the patient needs to stay healthy.
• Tissue oxygen saturation (StO₂) can be measured by near infrared spectroscopy. Although the measurements are still widely discussed, they give an idea of tissue oxygenation in various conditions.
• Peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO₂) is an estimation of the oxygen saturation level usually measured with a pulse oximeter device. It can be calculated with pulse oximetry according to the formula^[6] where HbO₂ is oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyhemoglobin) and Hb is deoxygenated hemoglobin.

Pulse oximetry[edit]

Pulse oximetry is a method used to estimate the percentage of oxygen bound to hemoglobin in the blood.^[8] This approximation to SaO₂ is designated SpO₂ (peripheral oxygen saturation). The pulse oximeter consists of a small device that clips to the body (typically a finger, an earlobe or an infant's foot) and transfers its readings to a reading meter by wire or wirelessly. The device uses light-emitting diodes of different colours in conjunction with a light-sensitive sensor to measure the absorption of red and infrared light in the extremity. The difference in absorption between oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin makes the calculation possible.^[6]

Medical significance[edit]

Healthy individuals at sea level usually exhibit oxygen saturation values between 96% and 99%, and should be above 94%. At 1,600 meters' altitude (about one mile high) oxygen saturation should be above 92%.^[9]

An SaO₂ (arterial oxygen saturation) value below 90% causes hypoxia (which can also be caused by anemia). Hypoxia due to low SaO₂ is indicated by cyanosis, but oxygen saturation does not directly reflect tissue oxygenation. The affinity of hemoglobin to oxygen may impair or enhance oxygen release at the tissue level. Oxygen is more readily released to the tissues (i.e., hemoglobin has a lower affinity for oxygen) when pH is decreased, body temperature is increased, arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO₂) is increased, and 2,3-DPG levels (a byproduct of glucose metabolism also found in stored blood products) are increased. When the hemoglobin has greater affinity for oxygen, less is available to the tissues. Conditions such as increased pH, decreased temperature, decreased PaCO₂, and decreased 2,3-DPG will increase oxygen binding to the hemoglobin and limit its release to the tissue.^[10]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Hypoxemia (low blood oxygen)'. Mayo Clinic. mayoclinic.com. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
2. ^Kenneth D. McClatchey (2002). Clinical Laboratory Medicine. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 370. ISBN9780683307511.
3. ^'Understanding Blood Oxygen Levels at Rest'. fitday.com. fitday.com. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
4. ^Ellison, Bronwyn. 'NORMAL RANGE OF BLOOD OXYGEN LEVEL'. Livestrong.com. Livestrong.com. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
5. ^'Hypoxia and Hypoxemia: Symptoms, Treatment, Causes'. WebMD. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
6. ^ ^abcd'Understanding Pulse Oximetry: SpO2 Concepts'. Philips Medical Systems. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
7. ^https://www.lhsc.on.ca/critical-care-trauma-centre/central-venous/mixed-venous-oxygen-saturation
8. ^Peláez EA, Villegas ER (2007). 'LED power reduction trade-offs for ambulatory pulse oximetry'. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2007: 2296–9. doi:10.1109/IEMBS.2007.4352784. ISBN978-1-4244-0787-3. PMID18002450. S2CID34626885.
9. ^'Normal oxygen level'. National Jewish Health. MedHelp. February 23, 2009. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
10. ^Schutz (2001). 'Oxygen Saturation Monitoring by Pulse Oximetry'(PDF). American Association of Critical Care Nurses. Archived from the original(PDF) on January 31, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2011.

External links[edit]

Oxygen is drawn into the body from the atmosphere by breathing. Each lung is inundated by an estimate of 300 million alveoli, which are cocooned by numerous blood capillaries. Alveolar walls and capillary walls are extremely thin, this makes them permeable, therefore, oxygen passing into the alveoli immediately diffuses into the blood capillaries – the process takes up only .25 seconds in an adult at rest. The bulk of oxygen that diffuses into the blood binds itself to hemoglobin molecules that are found in red blood cells creating oxyhemoglobin. The smaller bulk of the oxygen that is left over dissolves into the blood plasma. Blood that is rich in oxygen (arterial blood) then flows through pulmonary veins, into the left atrium and left ventricle, and finally circulates throughout the entire body’s organs and their cells.

Carbon Dioxide, which is a byproduct of cell metabolism, dissolves in the blood and is circulated back to the lungs where it is released as fresh oxygen attaches itself to hemoglobin and the cycle is replicated and repeated over and over again. The total amount of oxygen that is transported around the body is shaped by many factors: the lung factor which is the degree to which hemoglobin binds to oxygen, the anemic factor which is the hemoglobin concentration and the cardiac factor which is essentially the cardiac output. Oxygen saturation levels are an indicator of oxygen transportation in the body and point to whether oxygen is being supplied to the body, especially to the lungs in sufficient amounts.

What is SPO2

The pulse oximeter makes use of two frequencies of light (red and infrared) in order to gauge the percentage (%) of hemoglobin present in the blood that is dense with oxygen. The percentage calculated is called Blood Oxygen Saturation or SPO2. Hemoglobin molecules with attached oxygen molecules (Hbo2) absorb a different level of red and infrared light in comparison to hemoglobin molecules, which don’t have any oxygen molecule, attached (Hg). The difference range between absorption using an infrared light and a red light is used to gauge the SpO2 percentage. Each hemoglobin molecule can carry a load of four oxygen atoms and SPO2 is the sum percentage of hemoglobin molecules, which are oxygen-rich. Pulse oximeters also measure and display the pulse rate while measuring the SPO2 levels.

SpO2 readings are recorded in percentages. Normal levels of SpO2 rest between range of 95-100%.

SPO2 Levels

Blood Oxygen Saturation levels can be read as follows:

• 90% or less: This is the red zone; you need to consider consulting your doctor.
• 91 to 94%: This percentage is lower than average for the population. It requires you to monitor your situation closely.
• 95 to 100%: This is the average for the majority of the population, the SPO2 normal values. This level indicates that your red blood cells are dense with oxygen, meaning they are transporting oxygen around the body sufficiently and efficiently.

Blood oxygen saturation levels that fall outside the range of 95 to 100% can cause a number of symptoms. Some of them are as follows:

• Trouble breathing
• Shortness of breath
• Increased heart rate
• A headache
• Confusion
• Chest pain

Acute and persistently lowSpO2 levels leads to a condition called Hypoxemia. Hypoxemia can pave way for various health issues including organ failure. Low oxygen levels can also cause serious problems such as lung disease and sleep apnea. These conditions may require additional oxygen to maintain the healthy functioning of cells and prevent long-term damage to them. Hypoxia can also be caused by asthma, emphysema, pneumonia, heart problems, and anemia.

During exercise, SpO2 levels gauge the amount of oxygen that is reaching the muscles during a regular workout. This is why it is extremely important to know SpO2 levels just after any sort of activity. High blood oxygen levels indicate that the body will transport oxygen throughout the body at a faster rate, which will, in turn, make workouts efficient and intense. Lowblood oxygen level mean that the body will transport oxygen to the muscles at a slower pace, which will cause fatigue and make the workout less effective. Essentially, blood oxygen saturation gauges the quality of heart and lung health. Lower readings indicate that the tester is unfit or suffers from an ailment or illness.

In addition, one of the biggest negative influences of lung health is smoking. Smokers tend to experience drastic improvements in both their mental and physical health if they can gain control of their habit or completely curb it. Changes include better mood regulation, increased lung capacity, and improved fitness levels, and an overall increase in energy levels.

Moreover, there are a variety of ways you can work to improve your blood oxygen level.

Normal Spo2 Level In Human Body Images

Normal Spo2 For Adults

1. Exercise: During workouts, the body has to work hard to keep SpO2 levels up. This can over time permanently increase SpO2 levels even when you are not exercising. An hour of aerobic exercise, for example, brisk walking, jogging, swimming, or dancing at least three times a week can make a marked improvement in your SpO2 levels.
2. Fresh air: Sounds funny, but you can also increase oxygen levels by simply increasing the amount of oxygen you breath. Working out outside often can do this, opening windows in your house or offices, and increasing the number of live plants in your surroundings. These small changes will increase your fresh oxygen intake.
3. Diet: Consuming foods such as raw fruits, green vegetables, seeds, and nuts will draw more oxygen into the blood and markedly improve SpO2 levels over time as they are rich in chlorophyll.
4. Deep breathing: Oxygen deficiency can be dealt with by practicing deep breathing for a few minutes each day. Deep breathing entails filling the lungs to full capacity by expanding the chest and abdomen.

Normal Spo2 Level In Human Body Temperature

Understanding blood oxygen levels is important for everyone. However, it is particularly useful for those who exercise and is essential for people who suffer from low blood oxygen levels, such as those diagnosed with sleep apnea. However, while SPO2 provides an insight into your blood oxygen level, it is not a complete and comprehensive measurement of a person’s health. SPO2 measurements with an SPO2 sensor or an SPO2 monitor simply merely indicate that a diagnostic testing is needed, or other treatments should be taken into consideration.