“The opinions of doctors and medical researchers on the effectiveness of treating patients with ventilators?”
Hello, I am a sixth-form student in Wales and I am currently studying the Individual Project in Welsh which requires me to send questions to doctors and health experts based on my topic - respiratory disease. The questions I would like to ask are:
1. Do you believe that mechanical ventilators have been effective for the treatment of respiratory disease from COVID-19?
2. Are there any negative side effects of patients put on ventilators?
3. Do you believe the advancements in medicine and technology will be successful in treating respiratory disease as opposed to ventilators?
4. Are lifestyle choices a significant factor for the severity of respiratory disease? (Such as poor diet and lack of exercise)
5. Is funding the improvement of ventilators or advancements in technology more important for the treatment of respiratory disease? Should both be funded?
1. Do you believe that mechanical ventilators have been effective for the treatment of respiratory disease from COVID-19?
2. Are there any negative side effects of patients put on ventilators?
3. Do you believe the advancements in medicine and technology will be successful in treating respiratory disease as opposed to ventilators?
4. Are lifestyle choices a significant factor for the severity of respiratory disease? (Such as poor diet and lack of exercise)
5. Is funding the improvement of ventilators or advancements in technology more important for the treatment of respiratory disease? Should both be funded?
2 Answers
Do you believe that mechanical ventilators have been effective in the treatment of respiratory disease from COVID-19? It depends on the relationship between the ratio of inspiratory time and expiratory time to allow blood flow to catch up to the imposition of positive pressure which tends to tourniquet the blood flow during a positive pressure inflation phase.
Let me start by congratulating you on the steps that you’ve taken and the insightfulness in your questions. Let’s see if we can go through them one at a time and not be labor certain issues.
1. Yes in a certain subset of population.
2. Being on a ventilator extended course of treatment can lead to a tracheostomy as a necessity and voicebox vocal cord issues and difficulty getting them off the vent to later on to the next form of oxygen supplementation.
3. The treatment of respiratory/pulmonary diseases has continued to improve expand and get better over time. Therefore, I do believe that will be the case and ventilators will be reserved for certain subset of populations and or critically ill individuals who need the ATP‘s elsewhere and let the ventilator do the breathing while your body is doing the healing.
4. I believe the question in itself explains the answer. Smoking, smog in urban congestion, obesity, diabetes, asbestos, the list goes on and on so yes, I do believe that lifestyle choices do play apart, significantly, in respiratory ailments.
5. That’s very open ended therefore I will try to be as close to specific as I can. Do I believe that politics should be in medicine? Answer no. Do I believe that it is up to the medical community in order for the betterment of the general population and people as a whole in order to advance the technology along those lines? Yes. Do I think that big pharmaceutical companies and healthcare organizations associations and insurances are and should be a part of that process? Answer absolutely. Publicly funded tax related and that regard? No.
Great insightful questions, I hope that I was of assistance, and I hope that you do well and provide great service to those that you care for. Thank you for asking me and I hope my answers helped.
Be well
Brent Reinheimer, MD
1. Yes in a certain subset of population.
2. Being on a ventilator extended course of treatment can lead to a tracheostomy as a necessity and voicebox vocal cord issues and difficulty getting them off the vent to later on to the next form of oxygen supplementation.
3. The treatment of respiratory/pulmonary diseases has continued to improve expand and get better over time. Therefore, I do believe that will be the case and ventilators will be reserved for certain subset of populations and or critically ill individuals who need the ATP‘s elsewhere and let the ventilator do the breathing while your body is doing the healing.
4. I believe the question in itself explains the answer. Smoking, smog in urban congestion, obesity, diabetes, asbestos, the list goes on and on so yes, I do believe that lifestyle choices do play apart, significantly, in respiratory ailments.
5. That’s very open ended therefore I will try to be as close to specific as I can. Do I believe that politics should be in medicine? Answer no. Do I believe that it is up to the medical community in order for the betterment of the general population and people as a whole in order to advance the technology along those lines? Yes. Do I think that big pharmaceutical companies and healthcare organizations associations and insurances are and should be a part of that process? Answer absolutely. Publicly funded tax related and that regard? No.
Great insightful questions, I hope that I was of assistance, and I hope that you do well and provide great service to those that you care for. Thank you for asking me and I hope my answers helped.
Be well
Brent Reinheimer, MD
