Question

Respond to the following:

A 68-year-old male is admitted to the hospital for emphysema. He is hypoxic and his lab tests reveal low oxygen levels. His hematocrit is 65%. The physician has told him that he has a type of polycythemia in which he has an increased number of erythrocytes circulating in his bloodstream. The patient tells the nurse that he does not understand what that means. How would the nurse explain this in terms the patient could understand?

Answer 1

The polycyathemia is a condition of excess or overproduction of red blood cells in response to low oxygen levels or due to malignancy. It can be due to defect in bone marrow as a primary condition. The secondary condition of polycyathemia can be arise due to reduced oxygen levels caused by hypoxic lung diseases or COPD (chronic obstructive lung disease) like emphysema. The polycyathemia condition is characterized by symptoms like headache, dizziness, fatigue and blurred vision etc. The nurse should enquire the patient about presence of these symptoms. Then the nurse should explain the patient that due to low levels of oxygen and his lung disease, the patient had increase in his red blood cell levels and that is the reason for all related symptoms.