Man Survives 70 Years in Iron Lung
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I thought we had a forum post recently about someone who used an iron lung, but I cannot find it.
Anyway, with all of the publicity about COVID and vaccines, etc, I thought this was an interesting article.
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@friday of course, but...
The physiology of "breathing" in an iron lung is fundamentally different from being connected to a ventilator. The iron lung creates a vacuum that expands the chest, causing air to flow into the lungs. It's exactly what your diaphragm does. It's negative pressure.
A ventilator delivers air via positive pressure. It "pushes" air into the lungs. There's some evidence that negative pressure respiration is better, being more physiologic.
However, my comments were regarding the other complications of long-term quadriplegia. I don't know how severe this man's polio was, and perhaps he did retain some function of his lower extremities, but not enough strength to support independent breathing.
He says he felt rejected by others and had to learn how to “frog” breathe by using his throat muscles to push air into his lungs when he was outside of the ventilator.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossopharyngeal_breathing
Glossopharyngeal breathing (GPB, glossopharyngeal insufflation, buccal pumping, or frog breathing) is a means of pistoning air into the lungs to volumes greater than can be achieved by the person's breathing muscles (greater than maximum inspiratory capacity). The technique involves the use of the glottis to add to an inspiratory effort by gulping boluses of air into the lungs. It can be beneficial for individuals with weak inspiratory muscles and no ability to breathe normally on their own.
The technique was first observed by physicians in the late 1940s in polio patients at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, in Los Angeles, by Dr Clarence W Dail [1] and first described by Dr. Dail in 1951 in the journal California Medicine.[2]
The glottis closes with each "gulp". One breath usually consists of 6 to 9 gulps of 40 to 200 ml each.
A normal tidal volume (breath) is about 450-600 ml (7ml/kg).
Frog breathing increases the time which patients can spend outside the iron lung. Before learning the technique, one group of eleven patients at Rancho Los Amigos was able to remain outside their respirators for an average of only 4½ minutes. After mastering it, their average time jumped to 4½ hours. Frog breathing gives patients a big psychological boost, also enables them to cough, ending a small but maddening frustration that besets the paralyzed who feel the throat irritation but cannot relieve it, and it allows them to speak audibly.
Ah, the ability to cough. Paramount for pulmonary hygiene.
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Interesting @ george.
