QUESTION: Can the CarboHaler be used if the lung function Is reduced?
ANSWER: Yes, the CarboHaler can be used if the lung function is reduced. As carbon dioxide has a relaxing and widening effect on the smooth muscles surrounding the airways, adding a little extra CO2 to the air we inhale, can help open up the airways.
Yale Professor Yandell Henderson showed already in the 1930s that pneumonia could be treated by inhaling extra CO2.
The normal level of CO2 in the blood is 35-45 mmHg. A study (Crisafulli et al., 2021) showed that low levels of carbon dioxide in the blood, below 35 mmHg, were associated with a residual lung function impairment.
References
- Crisafulli et al. - Residual Lung Function Impairment Is Associated with Hyperventilation
- Y. Henderson et. al - The Treatment of Pneumonia by Inhalation of Carbon Dioxide