Masks and Breathing

"Hi Dr. Smith.... so, I do my best thinking while sewing... and this question just occurred to me... are people’s oxygen saturation (?) levels lowered while breathing through these ridiculous masks? I just have not heard that addressed anywhere.  I also, selfishly ask because a friend is 23 weeks weeks pregnant and is always wearing a mask outside their home... and I just started to think about the importance of she and Junior not being oxygen deprived... any logic to that?"

So, the quick answer is Probably Not. However, masks certainly increase the resistance to breathing in, esp. if tightly fitted. Resistance means the effort needed to drawn in a breath. Asthmatics problem is increased resistance. Of course, pts with severe asthma have a marked increase in resistance, much more than masks. But pts with mild asthma have similar increases, depending on the attack and the mask. If it is harder to breath in when you have a mask on, loosen it for crying out loud!

I haven't seen data on asthmatics, but I can see how masks in pts with COPD and asthmatics could, by increasing resistance, trigger an attack.

Please don't ever put yourself or your baby's health in jeopardy, esp. not for something as unproven as the use of a surgical mask to prevent the spread of Covid. Loosen or remove the mask, if you feel the slightest bit short of breath.

Listen, come November 4th, this all changes. Which way? I am not sure.

But if Biden wins, watch for a sweeping change in NYT, WAPO and CNN's coverages of Covid, which, to date, have been an enormous embarrassment to journalism and Medicine. Spin is not near strong enough term to describe the way and lengths each has gone to misrepresent and misinterpret data.

No, this doesn't mean I am Republican. I am not. It means I know the real data and the correct interpretations. I cannot abide by their complete misportrayal of the truth.

The politicalization of this pandemic nauseates me. It goes against everything I have done in my professional career. Why should I work so hard, if people just don't really care who lives or dies, as long as Biden wins? Very well meaning, hardworking honest doctors are stunned by what has taken place. Why would I say HCQ works if it didn't? Stock prices?

I may have mentioned this a while back, one of my best friends in the world and one of the brightest doctors I know, meaning one of the few I call for help on a complicated pt, told me a few months ago, "You know everyone thinks you're a Republican now."

I was disappointed for a couple of reasons.

First, so what if I were Republican? Is that akin to being a racist or something now?

Second, my friend had listened to my appearances. He knew I hadn't said one thing political. I responded saying just that and then challenged him, "What have I said on TV that can remotely be interpreted as being right or left? Conservative or Liberal?" Most of my appearances on Fox occurred in the heat of the pandemic in Jersey. A few times, I was on the hospital talking to an ER doctor or patient's nurse about a Covid pt, who was very sick. I didn't care about and didn't have time to watch the news.

One such night, Laura played a clip of Dr. Sanjay Gupta talking about HCQ's retinal toxicity. It was the first time I had heard it and I was on live TV. I actually, reflexively and incredulously asked "Did he really say that?" I was completely stunned that any doctor would completely exaggerate HCQ's adverse effects. There is no way his exaggerations would stand up in court, I mean a fair court.

I further explained to my buddy that I talked to whoever called. I talked to WAPO, I talked to the Bergen Record, I talked to the LA Times.

CNN and NYT never called.

I said the same thing to everyone. Unfortunately, the LA Times and WAPO only wanted to know what Pres. Trump was like during the meeting. The WAPO reporter was appropriate and brief. After the LA Times White House correspondent kept bugging, I lectured him on how inappropriate he was being. It was early April. I said "Do you have any idea what is going on here?!? Do you have any idea how serious this is or how many have died and how many are going to?! And all you want to do is talk about gossip??"

Frustrated and angry don't begin to describe my emotions. Why didn't our country realize that we were under siege? Why didn't America recognize that we were at war with a common enemy and that, to defeat this common foe as soon as possible, we needed to be one? I didn't have any answers to these questions.

Sadly, I still don't.

SMS