Face masks have a negligible negative impact on CO2 and O2 levels-study

Face mask

More and more scientists are getting access to the world for more information about SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Sure The mask can help reduce its spread.

The main way SARS-CoV-2 infects is through the entry of viral particles into the human respiratory tract. This usually occurs after another person coughs, sneezes, or talks nearby to produce droplets or aerosols that carry the virus.

Therefore, face masks play an important role in reducing exposure to the virus and limiting the amount of virus that a person can project at others.

There is growing consensus on the value of face masks to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, but this is not always the case.

Initially, little was known about new viruses, and policies had to be developed based on the best available evidence, following a scientific model that used data from previous epidemics involving similar viruses.

As a result, guidance on wearing masks varies from country to country, with some major health organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO). Changed their advice with time.

In many respects, these changes and contradictions are inevitable when providing advice on an urgent public health crisis while scientists are constantly discovering new information. Despite the changing evidence, sticking to the position arbitrarily or providing advice when there is little evidence to justify it may not be a better approach.

However, research has shown significant changes to the official guidance. Reduce people’s trust In science, which is the basis of policy.

In addition, the use of face masks has become a political battlefield, and voice supporters on the right have accused them of wearing forced masks as an infringement or suspicious element of freedom. Widespread conspiracy COVID-19 has been mobilized or Production..

In this regard, some have suggested that face masks are a threat to public health, assuming that masks reduce the amount of inhaled oxygen or increase the amount of inhaled carbon dioxide.

COPD patients

To test this theory, the researchers behind the current small study hired 15 house staff doctors and 15 COPD veterans who had no health problems affecting the lungs. did.

Veterans were in the hospital to allow doctors to check oxygen levels as part of regular COPD monitoring.

Monitoring included, among other things, blood oxygen levels checked by blood tests before and after the 6-minute walking exercise. This exercise was carried out wearing a mask according to hospital protocols during the pandemic.

Researchers used a LifeSense monitor to check the air in the baseline room and make continuous measurements while participants wore masks.

No big change

The researchers found no clinically significant changes in participants’ end-expiratory carbon dioxide measurements, or the amount of carbon dioxide in their exhaled breath. They also found that blood oxygen levels did not change 5 or 30 minutes after wearing the mask during rest.

As expected, COPD participants had lower blood oxygen levels than participants without respiratory illness. Participants in COPD wore masks, so there was no significant change in gas exchange.

“We have shown that even people with very severe pulmonary dysfunction have minimal effects,” said Dr. Michael Campos, senior research author at the Miami Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Stated.

Studies suggest that if you experience shortness of breath while wearing a mask, this is not due to a decrease in oxygen levels or an increase in carbon dioxide levels.

Dr. Campos explains: “Dyspnea, the sensation of shortness that some people feel with a mask, is not synonymous. [with] Gas exchange changes. This can result from airflow restriction by the mask, especially when high ventilation is required during exercise. “

Recognizing that masks can be unpleasant for some, the authors show that wearing a mask is important for maintaining the health of the wearer and those around him. They write:

Although the study was small, the findings emphasize that wearing a mask is still important — increasing evidence that masks reduce viral infections and no evidence of opposition. Thinking about it.

As Dr. Campos summarizes, “the general public should not believe that masks kill.”