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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Can A Virus In Home Cause Breathing Problem?

Thankyou, I have a sister-in-law in Italy who collapsed due to intense smoking, she has been in intensive care and has been on a breathing machine. We were told she also has a virus received from a bird in her home and has been heavily sedated. We were told she may have to have a tracheomtey procedure. Could this be from the above diagnosis. thankyou for time.
Thu, 5 Mar 2015
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Pulmonologist,  's  Response
Hello dear, thanks for your question on HCM.
I can understand your situation and problem.
In my opinion she is having CO2 narcosis (excess carbon dioxide in the body).
It is common in smoker. Due to severe damage in lungs (because of smoking), carbon dioxide can not be completely expored from the body.
So this will slowly rise in the body.
Excess of CO2 supress the Central nervous system (CNS) and makes person unconscious.
So she might be collapsed mostly due to CO2 narcosis.
The treatment of this is hyperventilation.
So patient is put on mechanical ventilator and hyperventilated to remove excess CO2.
Viral infection is associated can even worse the condition.
So she is also undersedation to achieve good ventilation.
Ask her to quit smoking as soon as possible once she is stable.
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Can A Virus In Home Cause Breathing Problem?

Hello dear, thanks for your question on HCM. I can understand your situation and problem. In my opinion she is having CO2 narcosis (excess carbon dioxide in the body). It is common in smoker. Due to severe damage in lungs (because of smoking), carbon dioxide can not be completely expored from the body. So this will slowly rise in the body. Excess of CO2 supress the Central nervous system (CNS) and makes person unconscious. So she might be collapsed mostly due to CO2 narcosis. The treatment of this is hyperventilation. So patient is put on mechanical ventilator and hyperventilated to remove excess CO2. Viral infection is associated can even worse the condition. So she is also undersedation to achieve good ventilation. Ask her to quit smoking as soon as possible once she is stable.