Oxygen

What is the truth when it comes to hypoxia and hypercapnia? Let's journey down this rabbit hole and see what the "science" says about SIDS, sleep positions, and masking.

I went out to dinner last night. Italian food. Live piano playing. Good company. It was a really nice evening.

But our server was wearing a mask.

Whatever people want to do with their own bodies, I don’t care. So long as you don’t force it on others and you’re not hurting someone else in the process, you do you.

That said, I just don’t understand how people can be so freaking ill-informed and unaware at this point. It’s been five years since all that nonsense started. People have had plenty of time to catch up on all the data that was available back then to realize how stupid they were to mask, stand six feet apart, isolate, and jab up, among other things.

The reason why I bring this up is because I’m currently working on some assignments related to pregnancy and motherhood. It’s not a subject I’m well-versed in, so I’ve had to do lots of research.

When citing my research and findings, my client requires me to use only trusted resources from .gov, .edu, and .org websites. Fair enough. So what I discuss from this point forward will come from the same kinds of sources.

Now, the reason why this masked server has really stuck in my craw is because of something I learned about last month.

Hypoxia, Hypercapnia, and Babies

For the first year of life, babies are always to be lain down on their backs when they sleep. Why? It’s because back sleeping is meant to prevent the following:

• Overheating

• Choking

• Heart and lung function changes

• Hypoxia

• Hypercapnia

It’s the last two, in particular, I want to hone in on right now.

Hypoxia refers to insufficient intake of oxygen.

Hypercapnia refers to the abnormal elevation of carbon dioxide.

Researchers and doctors claim that babies that lie on their stomachs when they sleep are at a greater risk of developing hypoxia and hypercapnia.

As Dr. Matthew Badgett explains:

“When humans breathe out, they release air higher in carbon dioxide. A baby sleeping on their belly inhales some of their expired air, which has too much carbon dioxide and too little oxygen.”

A baby is apparently at the greatest risk of this type of suffocation when their face is up against a mattress, blanket, soft toy, bumper, or any other object. And because it takes many months for infants to develop the strength to push themselves away from objects that force them to breathe in expired air, the official guidance is to always put babies on their backs in bed.

So, um, why doesn’t that science apply to the rest of us?

Hypoxia, Hypercapnia, and Masks

Is masking not the same as a baby sleeping with a blanket or toy near their face? What’s more, with a mask secured around our ears and faces, aren’t we in just as vulnerable of a position as babies who can’t or don’t push these soft objects away from their faces?

According to Dr. Sofia Morra, a cardiologist, it doesn’t work that way for us:

“Wearing a surgical mask for short periods of time does not impact significantly physiological respiratory variables and thus, whenever a rise in CO2 occurs in the ‘dead space’ of the mask, it is unlikely that the magnitude of this increase would be sufficient to to impair immune, neurological, or cardiovascular homeostasis.”

Of course, she doesn’t stipulate what a short period of time is. But for many people forced to mask at work, during long flights, at concerts, those were arguably not short periods of time.

Don’t worry, she says. Surgeons wear these masks all the time for hours on end, and they’re fine. What’s more, virus particles are huge compared to oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules. So the mask allows these molecules to pass while saying “Halt! You must not enter!” to viruses.

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By the way, I found a 2022 study that aimed to look at the problem of CO2 mask inhalation.

According to the study, the amount of inhaled air CO2 when not masking is a mean of 460 ± 20 ppm. That’s cool because the safety threshold established by most countries says that we’re safe if we don’t exceed 5000 ppm over an 8-hour period.

Here’s the thing:

When someone wears a surgical mask on, the mean is 5087 ± 1579 ppm. And when someone wears a respirator, the mean goes up to 9653 ± 2874 ppm. These numbers are all significantly higher in children than they are in adults, by the way.

Oops.

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Let’s pretend, though, that Dr. Morra is correct and that the rise of CO2 while masking (or covering the face, in general) isn’t significant. Why all the fear mongering when it comes to how babies sleep?

The SIDS Connection

Something else that came up in my research time and time again was the high risk of SIDS amongst belly-sleeping babies.

It seems so odd to me that these researchers can confidently attribute SIDS to something that happens because babies lie on their stomachs at night. Yet, all of the literature on it — including this page from the NIH — emphasizes this point repeatedly:

“Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the term used to describe the sudden death of a baby younger than 1 year of age that doesn’t have a known cause, even after a full investigation.”

I added bolding to this statement to show you how ludicrous it is.

Researchers claim that thousands of babies die every year from SIDS. In 2022, the total was around 3,700 babies. They attribute the SIDS deaths as follows:

• 1,529 to SIDS (huh?)

• 1,131 to unknown causes (wait… what?)

• 1,040 to suffocation or strangulation in bed

The numbers aren’t really numbering, are they?

What makes the 1,529 “SIDS” deaths (ones without known causes) any different than the 1,131 unknown-cause deaths? Isn’t that the same thing? Are they playing linguistic games with us? Or are they classifying SIDS deaths another way?

Also, why would they lump suffocation and strangulation into the total count if the cause of death is known?

Let’s not get hung up on numbers, guys. The point is: They have no idea what causes SIDS. Or unknown-cause deaths. (Or suffocations?)

Isn’t that wild? Decades after the discovery and naming of the condition known as SIDS, they still have no clue what causes babies to just drop dead in their sleep.

They even looked into childhood immunization (vaccines) because so many people pestered them about it. But guess what? Vaccines had no effect on a baby’s lung or heart functionality. Which is so odd because there are plenty of vaccines that do indeed do that, even in adults who are perfectly fit and healthy.

You know what’s also strange? One of the reasons these scientists don’t want parents to allow their babies to sleep on their stomachs is because it increases the chances of this:

“Temporary changes in heart and lung function and control, which could affect the amount of oxygen getting to the brain”

I also noted this point in the list at the top of this post. I’m not sure how valid this argument is though.

I tried to find what the research says on stomach (prone) sleeping. While most articles poo-poo it as being the unhealthiest sleep position, it has nothing to do with heart and lung disfunction or impaired oxygen intake. Instead, they say it’s because it can lead to back or neck pain and… because it makes your face wrinkle? Really?

In fact, I’ve noticed that numerous articles claim that stomach sleeping is actually best for improving lung function and opening the airways. Not only that, the prone position was lifesaving for COVID patients experiencing severe acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Final Thoughts

Is it all bullshit?

Is it safe for babies (at least ones capable of rolling over or turning their heads) to sleep on their tummies? Or does it actually impair breathing and heart functionality?

Do researchers still really have no clue what causes SIDS deaths? Or are they issuing baby sleep guidance to try and mask the known underlying cause?

And what about masks? Are they harmful to our health? Or can the mask material really can magically filter one kind of particle through it and not another?

God, it’s stuff like this that makes me want to turn off my computer and give up on the digital world for good. You can’t believe anything or anyone anymore! And you know what? I think I might do just that.

I love writing. I do. But what I’m doing these days for work brings me no joy. I’d much rather get a job in the real world and write my stories with good ol’ fashioned pen and paper (which is how I’ve always done it anyway).

These aren’t just empty words or wishes either. I’ve just taken my first leap back into the physical world. I’m currently in training to become a… Wait for it…

Ghost tour guide.

Silly as that may seem, it’s right up my alley. I love scary and spooky everything. I really enjoy coordinating and hosting events. I’m also a nut for local history and tours. And if things work out well, there may be opportunities to run haunted bar crawls and food tours around Jacksonville.

So yeah, if I write even more infrequently on here, you know why.