N=1 test of mask wearing and hypoxia (aka "brain damage")

(Doug) #22

People, PLEASE - calling each other stupid, directly or by implication, is not cool. If there is a case to be made about masks - any case - that’s fine, and I think Bob’s original post here is good. But let’s not be pointing fingers at each other, personally.

(Steve L.) #23

Excellent research ctviggen!
I am a retired emergency physician. All the mask will do is increase the pulmonary “dead space” a little. For those of us who do not have COPD from smoking, our breathing is controlled by the level of carbon dioxide dissolved in our blood and that is done by the brain stem. It is a fundamental brain process which is why it is located in the brain stem. Our brain stems would and will and do easily compensate for the increased dead space and just have us breath a little more deeply or more often. I know “dead space” sounds scary, but it’s just the volume of air in our mouth, throat, trachea, and bronchi that has to be moved in and out with each breath before an inhaled and exhaled breath can get to the air that is in the air outside or the air in the working parts of our lungs called the alveoli. Hypoxemia from masks is a non-issue. Our brain stems will ensure that whether we are awake or asleep. That’s why we don’t have to “think” about breathing. Our brain stems don’t “think”, they are on complete auto-pilot. So for those who do not have COPD from smoking or some other rarer disease where they are restricted in the total amount of air they can move in and out with each breath, wearing a mask is not a concern from the point of view of hypoxemia or elevated CO2 levels. We have plenty of reserve in terms of the amount we can breath in and out with each breath and our brainstems will regulate that without difficulty. Bottom line, we will NOT and CANNOT get brain damage from wearing a mask.

#24

I’m not saying it’s true, but the argument I’ve heard is that people who are anemic would be the ones that would suffer, and a fair % of people have anemia. That would be worth testing. I do find the fact that medical professionals have always wore masks to support the idea that they are okay; never heard of a doctor quitting because he couldn’t wear a surgical mask.

(Ron) #25

The latest publication on viability of wearing masks.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21299527/masks-coronavirus-covid-19-studies-research-evidence.

The vox.com isn’t real credible but the studies listed are interesting.

I still don’t understand why it is so hard for people to be courteous to other human beings by doing a simple thing as wearing a mask in public?

(Peter) #26

It’s about “rights”, not about caring about others.

closed #27