... due to hypoxia?

Devoted Exmo wrote in a previous thread:

"But the problem with having such a diminished [lung] capacity is that you're not getting enough oxygen in your blood and therefore your organs are not getting enough oxygen and your cells start to die off. It got to the point where I could literally smell my own decomposition."

https://www.exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,2317707,2317961#msg-2317961


Devoted Exmo is apparently describing hypoxia:

https://www.webmd.com/asthma/guide/hypoxia-hypoxemia#:~:text=Without%20oxygen%2C%20your%20brain%2C%20liver,to%20meet%20your%20body's%20needs.

I asked Devoted Exmo more than once if a medical professional had confirmed that the smell was due to bodily decomposition, but I got no direct answer back to that question.

Is there any medical professional reading this that could confirm the ability to smell one's own decomposition due to hypoxia, or anyone (medical professional or not) that can direct me to any online documentation on the subject? I've done some searching to no avail.

Thanks.

If you had gangrene in your leg, could you smell the decomposition?

Gangrene is not hypoxia.

If you had rotting teeth, would the smell be on your breath?

Very different from hypoxia.

I think your question to Devoted Exmo was weird.

Would you distinguish the smell of necrosis from decomposition? I wouldn't. I've been micro labs enough to smell gangrene and in morgs enough to smell decomposition. I can say I've seen some putrid smelling sputum samples.

There is plenty of information about the damage to lung cells from this virus. I don't see why the sputum would not carry the odor of cells breaking down. Plus she said she got a secondary infection. Even if cells in her lungs were not being damaged enough to produce an odor, it's weird you would need her to distinguish the difference. I'm glad she stopped that nonsense question cold. She was being helpful by sharing her experience which I appreciate.

"But the problem with having such a diminished [lung] capacity is that you're not getting enough oxygen in your blood and therefore your organs are not getting enough oxygen and your cells start to die off. It got to the point where I could literally smell my own decomposition."

She's talking about cells dying from not getting enough oxygen (hypoxia) and smelling that odor--not lung necrosis.

And she never answered my question as to whether this opinion came from a medical professional or was her own.

That's all I wanted to know.

hy·pox·i·a
/hīˈpäksēə/


deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching the tissues.
oxygen deficiency in a biotic environment.

Hypoxia is not getting enough oxygen. Cells dying are a result of hypoxia, not the hypoxia itself.

"Some patients at the Bellevue Hospital in New York City are in critical condition because of silent hypoxia.

Hypoxemia is a type of oxygen deprivation in the blood that causes hypoxia. Coronavirus Disease (COVID) pneumonia causes silent hypoxia, which can "lead to low oxygen levels in the tissues, resulting in organ damage and - in some cases - death," according to Dr. Levitan. "

https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/25439/20200423/silent-hypoxia-bringing-covid-19-patients-closer-death.htm

Yes. I've done a little research on hypoxia and know it can be one of the complications of COVID-19.

My question was whether or not your doctor told you that you were smelling your own decomposition [from hypoxia].

You don't seem to want to answer that question, and I can't figure out why.

So it can only be true for you if a physician was there to confirm a smell? Wow. I guess I struck some kind of nerve with you.

P.S. I never have B.O. because I've never confirmed that with a physician either.

Devoted Exmo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So it can only be true for you if a physician was
> there to confirm a smell? Wow. I guess I struck
> some kind of nerve with you.
>
> P.S. I never have B.O. because I've never
> confirmed that with a physician either.


Your doctor wouldn't have to be there to confirm the smell to make it real. I'm just interested to know if hypoxia can make one's body emit an odor of decomposition and having the opinion of a medical professional, or better yet, documentation of cases in the medical literature, would be informative.

> I'm just interested to
> know if hypoxia can make one's body emit an odor
> of decomposition

The answer is no. Hypoxia itself does not "smell" like decomposition.

Hypoxia can, however, lead to gangrene and other forms of necrosis, which can indeed be smelled.

Thanks, lw.

I can see where lung necrosis from pneumonia and the associated immune reaction might produce decomposition odors, but that's not what she's describing in the quote.

That has me confused.

I think it is what she means.

I think you may be right. Thank you for stepping in, oh Wise Counselor.

;-)

Did you read the account of the pulmonary specialist who got Covid 19 and developed lung necroses from my other link? Did you read the part where he was coughing up dead lung tissue? Can you imagine that it might have a smell? That is what I'm describing happened to me.

I remember smelling my life decomposing about 19 months into my mission...

ElderOldDog, virility decomposition smells like General Authorities except much less potent - much much different.