the “happiest” hypoxemia

[GoodTaste]

The expression Many patients with the “happiest” hypoxemia appears to suggest that the patients of COVID-19 have experienced some form of euphoria due to hypoxemia. I am not sure. The patients are captured by the elation, unaware of the danger of the diseas.

The key clue in understanding is: without the existence of euphoria, how could you describe it as "happiest"?

Does "happiest" here suggest some form of euphoria?

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The second reason has been the unexpected utility of frequent follow-up visits made by our team members that make them more available to the community. Many patients with the “happiest” hypoxemia — those with minimal or no dyspnea — are young, relatively healthy people who might not otherwise present for medical care at all. We try to evaluate everyone in the household when we are visiting elders, and we frequently discover people with oxygen saturations of 80% or lower who did not know they were infected. Only by being in the field are we able to identify such patients early, initiate supportive care, and perhaps save a few lives.

Source: New England Journal of Medicine July 2, 2020
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.105...=featured_home

 

[tedmc]

Hypoxemia or hypoxia, a condition where there is not enough oxygen in the bloodstream, is not a happy condition to be in. It is made worse if there is difficulty in breathing, called dsypnea. But there are those Covid-19 patients, especially the young and otherwise healthy patients, who have hypoxia with little or no dyspnea hence do not suffer breathing difficulties. They are the lucky ones who escape with mild symptoms and hence the happiest, i.e. relatively, not that they are in a state of euphoria.

 

[Skrej]

No. “happy hypoxemia" aka ‘silent’ hypoxemia, refers to patients who have oxygen saturation low enough to be classified as hypoxemia (oxygen saturation below 95 percent), but yet otherwise still act normally and feel comfortable. They’re unaware they’re short of oxygen, and don’t feel any adverse effects. Hence they’re “happy” instead of acting or feeling sick.


So in this case, the “happiest” ones are the ones who also have little or no dyspnea (difficult or labored breathing).

It simply means that they’re the otherwise healthiest one can be and still be sick, all while being largely unaware that they’re technically sick.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Right. Notice the quotation marks. What do they tell you? (Hint: It's not a quote.)

If you have a severe case of it, you're very unhappy. In comparison, a mild case is a happy case.

No one is happy. But if you have a mild case, you're a lot less unhappy than someone with a bad case.