Fact Check: This breathing test doesn’t measure lung health or oxygen levels, viral video is misleading

Vishvas News (New Delhi): A one-minute video going viral on social media claims to be a breathing test to determine whether the lungs are healthy. As per the video, if a person holds his breath from point A to point B, then it is a sign of healthy lungs. Users are sharing it as LUNG HEALTH TEST. Vishvas News investigated and found the post to be fake. Many such claims went viral earlier as well claiming to detect coronavirus through a lung heath test.

Claim

Facebook user Bright Jnr shared this post on July 13 and wrote, “Check Your Lungs and Oxygen Level. If you can hold your breath from point A to B, Then You are in SAFE ZONE.”

A user has also shared this video on Instagram with a similar claim. Many other users are also sharing this post with similar claims. The archive link of the post can be found here.

Investigation

We started searching this claim on the internet with the help of related keywords. In the search, we found information on the World Health Organization website and a post shared on their official Facebook page. The Myth Buster section on the WHO website clearly states that holding your breath without discomfort for 10 seconds or more does not prove that you are free from coronavirus disease or any other lung disease.

WHO also shared this information on its official Facebook page and Twitter handle. which can be viewed here.

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1244314434581016576

We contacted Dr. Ashish Verma, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Lucknow University, to investigate the viral claim. He told us that this claim is false.

We shared the viral claim with Dr. Prashanth Mukka, Consultant Pulmonologist, Citizens Specialty Hospital, Hyderabad for more details. He said: “The viral video claiming that if you can hold your breath from point A to B, then you have healthy lungs and oxygen level is false and misleading as it is not a true diagnosis. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all test that can diagnose lung disease such as fibrosis. Everyone is different and how long a person can hold their breath will vary, particularly if someone is vulnerable that includes elderly population or chain smokers, depending on their lung capacity. Moreover, patients with extreme asthma and lung diseases may head off trouble if they do something like this under the supervision of a medical practitioner.”

At the end of the investigation, we did social scanning of the user who shared this claim. It was revealed that the user is a resident of Accra, Ghana.

Conclusion: In the investigation of Vishvas News, the viral claim in the name of lung test has been proved wrong. This video has gone viral many times in the past with different claims.

Tags

• Coronavirus
• COVID19
• Fact Check
• fake news