What is cyanosis ?
Cyanosis is the bluish discoloration of the skin , nails and lips .ie the color of the skin is turned blue and lips colour also changes from pink to blue or purple.
Why cyanosis occurs ?
What is the cause of cyanosis ?
Cyanosis is caused due to reduced level of the oxyhaemoglobin and increased amount of deoxyhaemoglobin.
Oxyhaemoglobin is a bright red color pigment which is present in blood and it the combination of oxygen and haemoglobin .
Deoxyhaemoglobin is less red , darker and light bluish pigment , which is formed when blood filled in capillaries , arteries and veins flows through it and gives oxygen to the tissues which are doing their metabolism further .
Classification :-
Cyanosis is further classified into two types.
Peripheral cyanosis
Central cyanosis
Peripheral cyanosis-
Peripheral cyanosis is the cyanosis which occurs due to the low and slow flow of blood through capillaries at the periphery of the body like hands , feets.
Usage of oxygen is increased in peripheral cyanosis because when blood is slowed and low at peripheral parts like hands and feet then oxygen usage is increased more and more from the arteries and it’s capillaries.
Main cause can be vasospasm .
Vasospasm can occur can normally occur in winters due to cold , heart failure,stress , tachycardia and anxiety .
Sometimes you can see in winters our fingers of both the upper limbs become very cold and nails also occur bluish or purple in color .
It is due to reduced oxygen level in blood .
Central cyanosis-
Central cyanosis is the cyanosis occur at the central parts of body like lips ,tongue , mucous membrane and conjuctiva .
Most common affected areas in central cyanosis is the place where keratinized epithelium is absent .
It can caused due to heart failure , serious respiratory disease , cardiac shunt abnormality , mixing of venous and arterial blood .
The main criteria to determine cyanosis is that haemoglobin must be less than 5g/dl of blood.
Heart failure can both be the reason of central and peripheral cyanosis because due to heart failure their will be low flow of blood through aorta and it’s capillaries and their will be less oxyhaemoglobin to the tissues and at reaching the periphery least blood flow occurs and cyanosis occurs in both the periphery and central areas .
*Cyanosis in tongue can be due to respiratory disease.
Symptoms of cyanosis is-
Bluish and purple color of tongue ,skin, lips , peripheral parts like hands and feets and nails . Difficulty in breathing due to reduced oxygen level in blood.
Lethargy and fatigue can also be present.
Management–
Wear warm clothes in winters to reduce vasospasm.
Exercise in winters like walking , rubbing hands etc to increase blood flow .
And if not cured then medication required .
Contributor- Medico Palak Pareek
