8
votes
Accepted
How far away from a highway should I live to avoid negative health effects?
To answer this question you would need to find the source of the information. I found the study mentioned in the article in the Toronto Star (Chen, et al. 2017); and while studying risks of dementia, ...
- 6,236
7
votes
Which speed is fatal / dangerous for a human body?
I think there's strong evidence that lung trauma caused by airspeed is not an issue, but we can analyze it. Sorry about the length. I treated this sort of like one would treat it on Physics.SE
Human ...
- 271
6
votes
What study materials can a layperson use to gain a deeper understanding of lung cancer?
Cancer can be one of the most complicated concepts in medicine, not only because of the pathophysiology of cancer, but the complicated statistics involved in the epidemiology of the diseases and ...
- 5,814
5
votes
Is it possible for the lungs and heart to work independently of one another?
The above answer is correct: no they can't function independently. I want to build on that answer with a couple additional points.
Consider that your heart beats while you hold your breath - but it ...
- 5,814
5
votes
Accepted
Is it possible for the lungs and heart to work independently of one another?
You're overlooking one important point: Both the heart and lungs are living tissue too, and without both circulating blood and oxygen they will die just like all the other tissues in the body. So no, ...
- 9,935
5
votes
What is the significance of 1 second in calculations of PFTs
In the case of spirometry, after taking the deepest possible breath, there are two values used most often:
FVC (forced vital capacity) is the total volume of air that the person can exhale. There ...
- 5,814
4
votes
How far away from a highway should I live to avoid negative health effects?
There are many factors to consider. The pollution level (and risk) depends on at least the following:
typical wind direction during rush hour
density of trees between you and the road
elevation ...
- 41
4
votes
What is the cause of the vaping-related outbreak of lung injuries?
There are some data about possible causes of vaping-related lung damage, the type of the damage and symptoms, but not about the changes in medical history questionnaires, vaping habits or e-cigarette ...
- 15.9k
4
votes
Accepted
What is 'Rising of the lights' as a death?
According to the Glossary of Old Medical Terms by Craig Thornber:
Rising of the Lights: croup - any obstructive condition of the larynx or trachea (windpipe), characterised by a hoarse, barking ...
- 1,511
4
votes
Acute symptoms from radon gas exposure
Answer
Overview
To summarise, even when radon gas accumulates at what we consider high levels, it is still a relatively low amount of ionising radiation compared to other events, partly because of the ...
- 3,414
3
votes
Bike pump as a ventilator?
Even a cursory reading of the spec indicates that this will not work.
Specification
Must: Defines the minimum viable product clinically acceptable by clinicians [...]
RMCPAP must ...
- 131
3
votes
Is or could lung lavage be used to treat or at least reduce the time required on a respirator for COVID19 patients?
The current guidelines for treatment of Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome do not recommend such treatment.
In SARDS associated with covid-19 disease there is alveolar collapse due to infection and ...
- 13.3k
3
votes
Accepted
Is it dangerous to inhale agar-agar jelly
You can't.
Considering that agar melting temperature is approximately 85-95C / 176-185F and coals burns at around 200C / 392F at rest, providing temperature of at least 100C / 212F inside the bowl, ...
- 81
3
votes
Does oxygen supplementation in case of pneumonia cause effects other than possibly preventing hypoxemia?
Hyperoxygenation causes vasoconstriction and increased systemic vascular resistance. This can be good in some circumstances and bad in others.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3672526/
...
- 71
3
votes
Inspiratory and Expiratory Muscle Training
The Powerbreathe is an inspiratory muscle trainer promoted as improving inspiratory muscle strength (and consequently exercise performance) in athletes and patients with respiratory disease. No ...
- 716
3
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to spread cough even if I'm not coughing?
No, it just happens and you're overthinking about it. It means absolutely nothing.
Cough is a protective reflex, which helps to clear the large breathing passages from fluids, irritants, foreign ...
- 424
3
votes
Accepted
Too much sitting as bad as smoking?
If we compare the average increase in all-cause mortality due to sitting (approximately 50% according to meta-study published on NHS) and the average all-cause mortality due to smoking (aproximately ...
- 46
3
votes
how to clean ex smokers lungs
The cited article offers no mechanisms of action, no data to corroborate the claims, and no research (not even observational). It merely makes unsubstantiated claims and offers them as fact. As I ...
- 1,400
3
votes
Is there a nonchronic disease with similar effects to lungs like those of emphysema?
Yes, damage to the alveolar walls or the reduction in surface area for gaseous exchange can be reversible. Additionally, acute (non-chronic) conditions can cause these circumstances. For example, in ...
- 301
2
votes
By how much does former smoking reduce one's lifespan?
This has to be a speculative answer. Putting a Number on Smoking’s Toll?
Important is this:
People who quit between 25 and 34 years of age gained about 10 years of life compared to those who ...
- 6,918
2
votes
Can tumor size (T) and presence of cancer in the lymph nodes (N) in patients with lung cancer be identified on the first visit?
It is not likely that at the first visit, a doctor will even know if there is a cancer or not. One likely scenario is:
During the first visit, a doctor (a primary doctor or lung specialist) usually ...
- 15.9k
2
votes
Accepted
What is the cause of the vaping-related outbreak of lung injuries?
While it could still be a mixture of acute reasons: metals, dust, plainly unknown toxins; the underlying reason seems not to be that plant matter is vaped, nor that liquids are vaped.
It also seems ...
- 6,918
2
votes
Why recovered patients develop lung disease due Covid-19?
The best theoretical model we have is that the SARS and SARS-CoV-2 viruses knock out the ACE2 receptor found on numerous tissues including alveolar cells, and myocytes, and intestinal luminal cells.
...
- 13.3k
2
votes
Accepted
How likely is it to develop pneumonia as a result of COVID-19?
From your own data 19% of patients need hospital care. Hospital care is usually required when the patient develops significant shortness of breath. Shortness of breath implies hypoxemia. Hypoxaemia ...
- 13.3k
2
votes
Can COVID-19 be damaging lung without showing fever?
The range of symptoms for people infected with SARS-CoV-2 are extreme. There are reports of asymptomatic children with CT scans showing viral pneumonia.
Among the paediatric patients in our study, ...
- 13.3k
2
votes
Is open air spraying of disinfectant irritating the respiratory system and therefore increasing risk of infection such as COVID-19?
The risk of infection is from inhalation of viral particles, or, from those particles landing on mucosal surfaces including the eyes, or being transferred there by ones hands.
I am not aware of any ...
- 13.3k
2
votes
Accepted
Why are corticosteroids not used in the treatment of pneumonia?
It would seem that the evidence is that (injected) corticosteroids don't help much unless the disease is severe (septic shock) and/or has a high inflammatory response, in which case there is some ...
- 3,490
1
vote
Why aren't lung machines / ECMO widely used for COVID-19?
As others have mentioned ECMO is used for covid-19 patients in some locations. I think this information is readily available by searching.
But I will try to provide some more information about why ...
- 410
1
vote
Why aren't lung machines / ECMO widely used for COVID-19?
Why aren't lung machines / ECMO widely used for COVID-19?
They are being used University of Michigan and News Medical
Beyond that, you have already suggested the "why" not being used more ...
- 720
1
vote
Accepted
How is nitrogen not exchanged in respiration?
There is no specific mechanism to carry nitrogen in blood, it is carried in a dissolved form unlike oxygen which uses the protein haemoglobin which is contained in red cells.
Animals can not utilize ...
- 13.3k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible