Patients: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease often require long-term medication, so what is the relationship between medication and oxygen therapy? Can oxygen therapy replace medication? Prof. Shen Ning: Oxygen therapy is one of the most important measures among non-pharmacological treatments, but as mentioned earlier, long-term oxygen therapy may only be needed if the patient has a more severe condition. The application of medication is much earlier, and medication can relieve different symptoms of the patient, improve exercise endurance, quality of life, etc. Oxygen therapy and medications themselves have different roles, and it can be said that long-term oxygen therapy is only needed when the patient fails to improve despite adequate application of medications and meets the indications for oxygen therapy. Both should be administered at the same time and not as a substitute for each other. Patients: How does oxygenation work? Does the patient feel comfortable after oxygen inhalation? Prof. Shen Ning: Objectively speaking, the important role of long-term oxygen therapy is to improve the survival rate of patients, reduce the occurrence of serious complications such as pulmonary heart disease, and improve the prognosis. However, in terms of the subjective feeling of the patient, it may vary greatly from patient to patient. Some patients do suffer from headache, dizziness, general discomfort, sleep disorder, etc. due to hypoxia, which can be corrected by oxygen and feel more comfortable; however, there are some patients who do not change too much after oxygen intake. But in either case, oxygen therapy is very beneficial for long-term prognosis as long as oxygen indications exist. Patients: Can oxygen therapy improve lung function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease? Prof. Shen Ning: The lung function of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is gradually declining, and there is no way to alleviate or stop the decline of lung function, even if some lung function declines due to smoking, quitting smoking cannot improve it. Generally speaking, oxygen therapy is the treatment for the end stage of the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, where the patient’s lung function is already in the extremely severe classification. Long-term oxygen therapy is not intended to improve lung function, but to stop serious complications such as pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary heart disease secondary to long-term hypoxia in slow-onset lung. Patient: What is the concept of long-term oxygen therapy? From the time you take oxygen, you can never stop? Prof. Shen Ning: This question involves the disease characteristics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. At present, neither drug, non-drug (including oxygen therapy, rehabilitation, etc.), nor surgical means can reverse the disease, and the disease will be long-lasting and irreversible. However, oxygen therapy is one of the most effective methods in terms of prolonging survival and increasing survival rates. Therefore, if a patient reaches the indication for oxygen therapy, we recommend lifelong oxygen therapy.