breathing

[walter624]

i am 64 years old i have copd lung volume low  weight 140 lbs. right now ,i have  a oyxgen  meter  on my finger. it reads  95 spo2 heart rate 58  .what does that mean                


This discussion is related to Heart Rate - Normal, Abnormal and Dangerous ?.

[ed34]

The finger sensor works by using two wavelengths of light which are partly absorbed by the red corpuscles in the blood carrying oxygen. As the blood flows past it can detect how many red corpuscles are passing the clip containing oxygen, giving your oxygen to blood saturation level. If your circulation is sluggish, readings can become inaccurate.
If your reading drops below 95%, they may perform a blood gas test. This involves a syringe being used to extract a small sample of blood, usually from an artery in the wrist. The syringe is preloaded with a tiny amount of coagulant to stop the blood clotting before testing. The blood is put into a special piece of equipment (blood gas analyser) which measures the partial pressure of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide. It also tests several other things and a good diagnosis can be gained. This is a more accurate test but is obviously more costly than just placing a finger clip onto a patient.

[kenkeith]

This would probably be a better question for another forum that deals with pulmonary issues.  SPO2  is the oxygen saturation level  and should be maintained at 95-97%, and I would assume th 95 is the percentage.  Normal heart rate at rest is 60 to 100 beats per minute.  Your heart rate is slightly low but that would not be of any medical significance.