Medical oxygen's history: how it key to beat Covid-19

08

Nov

PRAKSHI RAWAT

The tragic images unfolding in India could presage a frightening new stage of the pandemic, wherein the people die in droves caused by a lack of competent medical care rather than just the disease itself. A sudden lack of medical oxygen liquid plants in the country might make the matter even worse. One of the most simple and proactive approaches to treat the condition which causes hypoxia is to use oxygen. A constant dose of concentrated oxygen can help patients who are struggling to breathe.

In retrospect, it may look simple, but it took nearly 2 centuries for odd beliefs, open quackery, and total war in the medical field and outside to be defeated.

The finding of oxygen in medicine goes all the way back to the 1770s, when Swedish pharmacist Carl and British researcher Joseph Priestly independently separated the gas. Priestly was unjustly given the majority of the praise.

Priestley suggested that a new chemical would be "highly helpful to the lungs in some diseased circumstances, when the ordinary air would not be capable to accommodate out the rotten effluvium" but it seemed to make candles burn brighter. Nonetheless, he stuck to his cosmological constant theory, warning that breathing pure oxygen may well be dangerous – that it can be like burning the candle by both ends.

They weren't terribly effective, and there was a bright spot. This unusual group, according to one medical historian, created most of the oxygen-delivery devices still in use today, including spokesmen, corrugated, non-crushable breathing tubes, and techniques for mass-producing the gas.

The Pneumatic Institution closed down, although the oxygen plant continued to be used as a folk treatment. The majority of these procedures didn't truly use concentrated oxygen, instead delivering combinations of gases not comparable to regular air, usually a few gulps' worth and nothing more.

But that didn't seem to stop the merchants of these miracle medicines from making outrageous product claims. Patients were given one bottle of "Oxygen" and one container of "Oxygen Tonic" by the producers from the so-called "Oxygen Treatment," a common medicine from 1884. This was intended to be the last two months and treat all from dyspepsia to arthritis.

By the late 1800s, ventilators had become synonymous with quackery. However, in 1890, a physician named Dr. Alfred Blodgett had a pneumonia patient who he judged "irreversibly doomed." He hooked him up to an oxygen canister, turned on the gas — and left it running in the hopes of just easing her dying moments.

But that didn't stop the merchants of these miracle medicines from making outrageous product claims. Patients were given one bottle of "Oxygen" and one container of "Oxygen Tonic" by the manufacturers from the so-called "Oxygen Treatment," a common medicine from 1884. This was supposed to last two months and treat all from dyspepsia to arthritis.

By the late 1800s, ventilators had already become synonymous with quackery. However, in 1890, a physician named Dr. Alfred Blodgett had a pneumonia patient who he judged "irreversibly doomed." He hooked them up to an oxygen canister, turned on the gas — and left it running in the intention of just easing her dying hours.

It's possible that it's the first time oxygen was supplied to a patient on a constant basis in history. The woman recovered, and her breathing resumed regularly, much to Blodgett's surprise. He made his case review, claiming that oxygen plants may save lives. "Many examples will indeed be found where the period of greatest threat can be safely tided over," It was stated

They injected this into the stomach via the skin, up the urethra, and into the urethra. The most strange of them would be the notion of an oxygen enema, which was pushed by corn-flake enthusiast Dr. J. H. Kellogg, who was also known for promoting questionable medical treatments.

It required a Scottish doctor named John Scott Haldane to cut through to the silliness and conduct the experiment necessary to prove that breathing oxygen had been the best option – and thus had to be continuous and at high enough levels to be effective. "The Therapeutic Administration of Oxygen," was published in 1917.

His performance was great. Both sides employed poison gas throughout World War I. Haldane created equipment that supplied oxygen to warriors who had been exposed to a gas attack. The British customized android equipment which could be used to treat survivors, providing them with constant supply of oxygen for extended periods of time, after much trial and error.

All of this should have opened the medical community's eyes to the significance of constant oxygen administration. However, it really would take another 50 years to convert many doctors, who attempted to give oxygen at intervals to prevent causing serious injury to patients.

Intermittent oxygen therapy was attacked by Haldane, who equated it to "lifting a dying man to the surface of the ocean - on occasion." But this would take until 1962 for doctors and researchers to hold him back conclusively. They observed that intermittent oxygen therapy injured patients more because they had never been provided oxygen at all.

A rising number of doctors have started to accept continuous oxygen therapy. Dr. Thomas Petty first used it to treat patients with advanced lung illnesses in the United States. In a 1970 study of patients with advanced pulmonary disease, it was discovered that while 28 % receiving continuous oxygen died, 62 % of those that are not treated died. This eventually brought an end to the debate, clearing a path for greater research into the amount of oxygen in the next 50 years.

The innovation appears to have a major impact on Covid-19 victims. According to early studies on how different nations administered oxygen during the early months of the epidemic, oxygen saturation can be the difference between life for many people. Other research has revealed that oxygen helps keep patients off respirators and save lives, especially if it has been found early.

This most basic of therapies has been used for centuries. It could be used in a variety of situations, from battlefronts to hospital parking lots. Fortunately, The US is "working around the clock" to acquire oxygen plants supplier for India, while the United Kingdom is sending nearly 500 machines to disperse it. It's a start, albeit more may be necessary.