TEST HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO DETECT LUNG HEALTH AND MAY BE USEFUL IN CORONA VIRUS

REQUIRED SIX MINUTES WALK TO DETECT LUNG  HEALTH:--6 MWT was developed by the American Thoracic society and initially it was used on the children,but in the recent times it has started being used as an additional formulation in diagnosis to arthritis, fibromyalgia geriatric s, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease ,spinal cord injury, stroke, muscle disorders among the others .The test should be repeated again to assess the readiness to discharge. The covid-19 novel Corona virus cases mild lower respiratory tract infection in most patients,but it blows up into severe Adults respiratory distress Syndrome (ARDS)in a few covid-19 and also causes silent hypoxia,that is , patients don't realise their oxygen levels are dropping (due to growing infection in their lungs)untill they collapse or need an ICU bed  A simple test called the (6MWT)and is a simple and effective test to assess silent hypoxia. It helps in the early identification of the patient whose condition has the potential to deteriorate.It can be done at home or hospital ( preferably with a supervisor) .The patient wears a simple cloth or three ply mask , baseline Oxygen saturation reading using a finger pulse oximeter probe is taken and at the end of 6 minutes a repeat reading of oxygen saturation is taken . Patients looks comfortable while sitting,but they may get tired even doing the small tasks . Patients over the age of 65 to 70 years may have a shorter test .