What Will Happen if Oxygen Saturation Levels In Your Blood Too Low?

Normally oxygen saturation level in our body is on the range 97-99 %. If under 97% oxygen saturation level is low, then we need to do oxygen therapy. What will happen if the oxygen saturation level in our blood is too low?

Hypoxemia

Low oxygen saturation levels in our blood are called hypoxemia. This hypoxemia will cause the oxygen levels in our body to below or so-called hypoxia. The blood can not carry enough of the oxygen needed by the body.

We called it hypoxemia when oxygen saturation levels in arterial blood are less than 80 mmHg. Hypoxemia can interfere with the body's normal functioning, including the function of the liver, heart, brain, and other organs.

Symptoms that occur when your blood oxygen levels start low as follows:

• Our breath becomes shorter / shortness as the lung response to enter oxygen and increase oxygen levels in the blood
• Chest pain, because the heart does not receive adequate oxygen
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Confusion
• Restless
• Heartbeats become faster, as a heart response to help circulate oxygen in the blood throughout the body 

More severe hypoxemia can lead to impaired brain function and lead to decreased attention, disorientation, and irregular breathing. In the heart, severe hypoxemia can cause heart rate and blood pressure to decrease. Ultimately, severe hypoxemia can lead to coma or death.

The cause of blood oxygen levels is low

Hypoxemia can be caused by various conditions and diseases, such as:

• Severe asthma attacks
• Lung disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, bronchitis, pneumonia, pulmonary edema (presence of fluid in the lung), pulmonary embolism (presence of blood clots in arteries in the lung), acute respiratory failure syndrome, or lung damage because of trauma
• Heart problems, such as congenital heart disease
• Anemia, only a small amount of red blood can carry oxygen
• Sleep apnea
• Cyanide poisoning
• Strong pain medication and other drugs that can suppress breathing

Conditions and diseases like the above can prevent the lungs from getting enough oxygen. Problems in the circulatory system can also prevent blood from taking oxygen and pass it around the body.

How to prevent hypoxemia?

If you have health problems at risk of causing hypoxemia, you should always check your blood oxygen levels. If you show symptoms of hypoxemia at any time, you should consult a doctor to be handled immediately.

If you have asthma, you should always control your asthma every day to prevent hypoxemia. Here some tips to prevent your asthma:

• Taking asthma medication to prevent asthma symptoms from occurring
• Always preparing inhaler if at any time asthma relapse
• Eat right and stay active
• Recognize the relapse of asthma triggers and know how to avoid them 
• Besides, some other things you can do to prevent hypoxemia are:
• Stop smoking, especially if you have lung disease
• Do not be a passive smoker. Avoid places where you are close to people who smoke
• Do regular exercise to improve overall strength and endurance

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