Oxygen is so basic for our everyday life, that it is taken for granted. The
medical community is beginning to rediscover how important oxygen is to our
bodily functions. Research has indicated a link between oxygen and most diseases
of the human body.
The air that we breathe consists of 21 percent Oxygen and 79 percent
Nitrogen. You can go days without food, hours without water, but if you are
denied Oxygen for only a few minutes you can’t survive. Oxygen is crucial to
your system. All physical processes of your body, such as circulation,
assimilation, digestion, and elimination “run” on Oxygen. Oxygen is the
human body’s battery. As a result, Oxygen helps your body produce energy,
balance its metabolism, purify itself of wastes, and fight infection.
Your body uses Oxygen to rid itself of toxins, including allergic substances.
Since anaerobic bacteria, fungi and viruses cannot live in an Oxygen rich
environment, high blood oxygen levels are our best defense against infectious
illness. Unfortunately, if you’re like most everyone, your blood oxygen
content is low. Why?
There are many reasons why you don’t get enough oxygen in your system, you
may have shallow breathing habits. If you haven’t learned to breathe properly,
you aren’t bringing enough air into the lungs and you’re not assimilating it
efficiently in order to obtain vital blood oxygen levels.
When blood oxygen content is low, your body is slowed, weakened, and easily
fatigued. Your immune system lies prey to infections, accelerated aging, and
over time, disease. A person in poor health or suffering from stress, is
reflected in the skin. Proper skin care requires more than just getting a
facial. It requires a healthy body, proper diet, exercise and supplemental
oxygen.
OXYGEN AND ENERGY
Oxygen is a key component for the production of energy in the body. It
operates as part of the aerobic metabolism. This form of energy production is
similar to that of a fire. Wood may provide the combustible material, which is
combined with oxygen to produce Carbon Dioxide (CO2), heat, and water. The body
uses a similar process though without the heat. The main transport agent of this
cold energy production is ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) which is an
adenosine-derived nucleotide that supplies large amounts of energy to cells for
various biochemical processes, including muscle contraction and sugar
metabolism, through its hydrolysis to ADP. Without the activity of ATP and ADP,
the cells would die.
OXYGEN AND METABOLISM
There are two main pathways to energy production in the body. We have
mentioned aerobic metabolism. Aerobic means with oxygen. However, there is an
anaerobic metabolism that supports life for very short periods of time.
Anaerobic means without oxygen. How can this be so?
In the initial phase of metabolism of glucose there is a release of energy
without the presence of oxygen. However, as a waste product this reaction
produces lactic acid. As the process of anaerobic metabolism continues, the
concentration of lactic acid continues to increase until it becomes impossible
for the cell to function. Therefore, this anaerobic metabolism cannot be
expected to provide a long- term solution for oxygen management, but it plays a
significant part.
As oxygen delivery to the tissue drops, it reaches a point where anaerobic
metabolism increases. This is typically seen in by a rise in serum lactate
levels, a binding compound used by the body to neutralize the acid. Once oxygen
delivery increases, the lactic acid is further metabolized and removed. This
scenario is played daily in athletes. As they vigorously use their muscles there
is a buildup of lactate acid and later, during rest, the body removes this acid.
This causes the familiar aching muscles experienced by the weekend warrior.
OXYGEN STORAGE
Oxygen is not like other drugs. Once oxygen is inhaled, even from a tank
source, it does not accumulate for later use; it is metabolized right away. The
fact that oxygen is not stored by the body is why people die quickly when air is
cut off; all available oxygen at that point is completely exhausted in about
four minutes. Football players who come off the field for a few whiffs of oxygen
on the sidelines are not really benefited in any physiologic sense; by the time
they get back in the game, the supplemental oxygen they inhaled has been
completely used up.
OXYGEN AND INFECTION
Oxygen is a key component in fighting infections that we are afflicted with.
How so? It may help to understand if one remembers how hydrogen peroxide or H2O2
is used to clean a wound. When you pour this on an open wound or sore it
immediately foams up. Why? The hydrogen peroxide molecule is not the most stable
since it is an unbalanced form of water, or H2O. this second oxygen molecule can
be easily released. When this is done in the presence of bacteria, it literally
‘burns’ up the bacteria in a form of chemical fire. The white blood cells of
the body use this similar action.
As white blood cells flow through the circulation and encounter bacteria or
other foreign matter, they engulf such like a form of digestion. Once this is
encapsulated within the white blood cell it is bathed in superoxidase compounds
and destroyed or ‘burned’ up with cold fire. Without this, the white blood
cells, though effectively attacking the bacterial agents, are not able to break
down and destroy the bacteria. But where does the white blood cell get the
components to make the superoxidase compounds?
Red blood cells carry the oxygen to fuel the body’s cells. If a passing
white blood cell needs oxygen, a major component of a superoxidase compound, it
is able to pull such from a passing red blood cell. This is a very efficient and
effective method. However, if there is severe anemia or a low blood oxygen level
(which is usually the case) there is not enough oxygen for the white cells to
extract in order to fight off infections. In the case of severe anemia, there is
not enough red blood cells present for white cells to extract oxygen. in essence
you have plenty of soldiers (white blood cells) but these have no bullets (superoxidase
compound) to destroy the enemy.
In this condition there is an increased possibility for infection to rapidly
grow and overwhelm the body. If severe, it can lead to sepsis. Sepsis itself can
further release hormones and other reactionary chemicals into the body that can
lead to further problems with oxygen delivery, blood flow, and can result in
shock. Thus, it becomes paramount to help the immune system to fight bacterial
infections early on, or even before it occurs.
THE OXYGEN SOLUTION
The sad truth is that virtually no one is getting enough oxygen! To live well
on this small planet, you need to supplement your diet with oxygen. With high
blood oxygen levels, you can fight off illnesses, gain zest for life, and enjoy
vibrant energy, strength and endurance.
Where can you find supplemental oxygen? There are different ways to increase
oxygen in the body. The question is, which is the best and most effective way.
Not everyone is willing to travel to an ozone machine or have blood removed and
oxygenated. Taking Hydrogen peroxide dropperfulls in water or juice is
nauseating, and if done ignorantly, can rob your body of useful digestive
micro-organisms. Most people aren’t willing to snort it up their noses or take
it in other bizarre ways. And most of these procedures involve metabolizing the
oxygen within four minutes. None of them involve storing the oxygen.
Now there is an easy way of increasing the oxygen in your body, it does not
involve swallowing, or taking it in water or juice, or going to an oxygen bar,
this involves what we naturally do to get oxygen- BREATHING!! Yes all you have
to do is breathe. It is called Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, hyper means high and
baric means pressure. You breathe oxygen at higher pressures, this equal to
breathing oxygen at 33 feet underwater. This is possible by going into a
hyperbaric chamber. Normally used to treat divers with the bends, this treatment
is proven to increase oxygen levels unattainable anywhere on earth, it has also
been proven to support life without hemoglobin. The oxygen when breathed at 33
feet saturates the blood and water in your body with oxygen. Oxygen levels go up
from 80-100 mmHg (milimeters of Mercury) to 1800-2000 mmHg, enough to support
life without blood!
In this fashion, the human body can act as a rechargeable battery for oxygen.
During the time in the hyperbaric chamber (usually 1 hour) the body recharges
itself of oxygen, or pays off its oxygen debt. For that time, the body’s
lactate level improves. While the patient is outside the chamber there is a
consumption of the oxygen gains made while in the chamber.
The way it works is simple; it’s like trying to dissolve salt in water.
When you pour a spoonful of salt into a glass of cold water, not all the salt
dissolves. Simply adding more salt doesn’t make the water dissolve more salt.
But when you pour a spoonful of salt into a glass of hot water, all the salt
dissolves. At higher temperatures, more salt dissolves. What temperature does
for salt in water, pressure does for oxygen in the blood.
This treatment is used by the athletes in professional football and
basketball. Hyperbaric chambers can also be found in the best hospitals around
the world. It is used for all types of injuries requiring phenomenal levels of
oxygen. In hospitals it is the primary treatment for the flesh eating disease,
burns, infections, osteoporosis, carbon monoxide poisoning, air embolisms,
decompression sickness, gas gangrene and many more.
At Green Bay Hyperbarics we have a HYOX HTU2 hyperbaric chamber. We employ
them to heal pre and post- surgical procedures, gas gangrene, the flesh eating
disease, post-radiation damage, non-healing wounds, diabetic foot ulcers, air
embolisms, diving injuries, burns osteomyelitis and osteonecrosis. Currently
there is ongoing research in brain injuries and stroke patients in order to
improve the patients quality of life. For more on hyperbaric oxygen therapy you
can call us at (920)-499-0670.