100% Oxygen?

[Guest bwerts]

I have read that if a large amount of 100% oxygen is inhaled it can be dangerous (oxygen poison).

 

I have also read that in an experiment participants that inhaled pure oxygen for 1 minute prior to reading a list of words remembered more words than participants that breathed regular air.

 

So my question to you all is can the inhalation of oxygen increase a body and mind's performance? and if so why is it not used by athletes or during learning? after all it only hurts you if you inhale too much

 

I was just wondering, if you know anything about the topic please post. thanx

[Glider]

Inhalation of high concentrations of oxygen can increase cognitive and physical performance by providing the muscles and brain with a surplus of oxygen, more glucose can be broken down for energy. In muscle, this means that aerobic activity can take place for longer before anaerobic processes kick in. In the brain it means that there is more immediate 'fuel' available. However, pure oxygen won't make somebody fitter, nor more intelligent, and the effects are temporary.

 

In effect, you answered your own question. Oxygen is toxic, and at high levels, the body begins to react to it very quickly. One of the first things that happen is that the cells lining the lungs begin to thicken, in an attempt to limit the amount of oxygen passing into the blood. This, after a long period, makes coming off oxygen a problem as the lungs become 'scorched' and less efficient.

Further, our breathing is controlled by chemoreceptors in the vascular system. These respond to changes in acidity. A lower pH (more acid) results from higher levels of CO2 and triggers the 'need to breathe', increasing respiration to redress the balance. Extremely high saturations of oxygen disrupts this system, and people can stop breathing. Both of these are considerations when treating patients with O2; the concentrations and length of time on O2 have to be strictly controlled.

[YT2095]

Yup,,, what Glider said!

hence Anti-Oxidants (in moderation) are good for you

[Guest bwerts]

well, even if pure oxygen won't make you smarter or more fit, will it allow you to run better/faster if you use it before a meet, after training with regular air conditions? For example, i run cross country and track, if a cross country runner or track runner were to breathe in pure oxygen for a short period immediately before the race started (im not planning to try it so dont worry) would it increase their performance compare to their other times?

[Glider]

Temporarily. It would saturate the muscle with oxygen in the same way that free divers do, by hyperventilating immediately before diving. However, as soon as you started to run, you would begin to use this store rapidly, and within a very short space of time, it would come back down to how efficiently you could replace it (pulmonary and cardiovascular fitness). It might give you a slight advantage over the first 100m or so, but after that, it's back to normal.

[YT2095]

and 100% pure O2 used in that way wouldn`t be fully assimilated anyway, you`de need a CO2 content in order to trigger the biological response needed, hence O2 in tanks is always mixed prior to inhalation, it`s not just for safety reasons, it`s just that you`ll get more absorbed with a mix that`ll make yer bio-sys respond towards assimilation of it

also running a race on pure O2 would prabably make you pass out and collapse long before you got to the 100M mark. I know coz we used to do it as kids with welding Oxygen through a back panel in a fence from an old factory and get stoned on O2 there

[Duke]

Micheal Jackson and his monkey like to breath pure oxygen or so i've read...

[wolfson]

Tissue oxygen toxicityi s one example, and development of pulmonary atelectasis after acute use of 100% oxygen is

another.

So if you had LVF or Cardiomyopathy then you would be in a hight percentile of Myocardial Infraction (heart attack).

[DeoxyriboNucleicAcid]

Not totally related, but in an environment whare air is 100% oxygen, a single spark would blow the whole place up! (Thats what happened on appolo). Well anyway, I have not readf p on this topic, but you do need to absorb other chemicals besides oxygen and is you are deprived of them, you may feel weak, dizzy, etc. Oxygen does however give lots of energy, I would imagine that cells could be poisoned (overstimulated maybe). Too much of anything could be bad, accept CASH hehehe