about these blood gasses

[minkymoo]

right you all know l went for the blood gasses taken from my ear lobe yesterday now lm not so sure what it is they did it for some say to read how much oxygen is in my blood then someone said it was to read how much carbon dioxide is in my blood so is this correct carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide

[stone-UK]

Hi

Carbon Dioxide CO2

Oxygen O2

Are the gasses checked

Carbon Monoxide is a waste gas from smoking , car fumes, incorrect gas burning appliance .

Oximeters can not tell difference between oxygen and carbon monoxide.

One of the reason for a high reading.

[minkymoo in reply to stone-UK]

hi stone thankyou l did think it was dioxide cos l had blood taken for monoxide when my gas fire was faulty so l had a idea l just had to check it

[minkymoo]

they said they did it was put into a machine that's all l know

[dall05]

99.9 % sure its carbon dioxide. Plants love it but we expel it when we breath out. Carbon Monoxide is the poisonous stuff that comes out of an old car exhaust.

The blood gases test measure's the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood as well as other things. I once had a pretty rough time in ICU on full life support. I was connected to a machine called the nova lung which removed the high levels of carbon dioxide from my blood to save damage to my vital organs.

[andymb]

If your carbon dioxide is high, this could mean you are a "retainer" and there will be some doubt whether you could have supplementary oxygen or not, although some still do. If you are a retainer your sats can still appear good even though you may be on your knees gasping for air, Andy

[Gidge]

OK - so your lungs basically take oxygen from the air into your blood, and your heart pumps it around your body in arteries to be used by your body; 'used' blood goes back to your lungs via your veins, your heart pumps it to your lungs and the carbon dioxide is taken out of your blood and you to breathe it out; this is gaseous exchange, which happens in the small chambers in your lungs called alveoli, where the two gases pass in their relevant directions across a very thin membrane. The blood tests tells them how efficient the gaseous exchange is, and how much oxygen and carbon dioxide are in your bloodstream, which helps decide your treatment. Gill

[Eve3066 in reply to Gidge]

Excellent explanation, well done and thanks

[minkymoo in reply to Gidge]

so what your saying is it will tell them if l need oxygen and that's all it will tell is that what your saying gill

[Gidge in reply to minkymoo]

Well, it will tell them how well your lungs are working, basically. It IS part of the tests to see if you need oxygen, will also tell them if you shouldn't have it, too. It will measure the acidity of your blood, which can tell them a lot if you are diabetic, or have heart failure, for example.

Gill