Is supplemental O2 a scam?

[fezident]

Is portable/personal/bottled oxygen a scam? Is it legit?

I jog everyday. I really gun it during that last lap. Would a few hits of tru02 reduce that crazy sick nausea I feel immediately after?

[Dr Steve]

Is portable/personal/bottled oxygen a scam? Is it legit?

I jog everyday. I really gun it during that last lap. Would a few hits of tru02 reduce that crazy sick nausea I feel immediately after?


It's legit, in the sense that when they say they're selling you Oxygen (which, you can get in the 21% pure form just by inhaling), they're usually not selling you Helium instead. If they're making any weird health claims about inhaling pure oxygen, it may indeed be a scam. You'd have to show me something specific before I could comment, though.

When you are a long distance runner, you use up your "fast twitch" sprinting muscle fibers (which are oxygen dependent) and switch to a slower twitch mode (that can go longer). If you're gunning it at the end, you're using muscles that require a lot of oxygen that they can't get at the moment, so they "borrow" energy from other systems to work. You can build up crap like lactic acid that can make you feel really bad. The whole system finally returns to equilibrium once you stop abusing your body and get some rest. (Note, I am not an exercize physiologist...I just pulled that last paragraph out of my ass, where it's been hiding since medical school. If someone who is an expert on these issues can help us out here, have at it.)

In your case, a little O2 at the end may indeed reduce the nausea you feel immediately after you run. The only way to find out is to give it a try.

Obviously if you're having chest pain, skipped heart beats, or any other weird symptoms you need a stress test before you do much more running.

hope this helps!


your pal,


steve

[BinaryTaoist]

what are the odds of that supplemented oxygen making it to the tissues that need it?

[Dr Steve]

what are the odds of that supplemented oxygen making it to the tissues that need it?

well, the odds are 100%...eventually. Whether it'll be fast enough to palliate his symptoms of post-exercise nausea is a question we can only answer by experimentation.

Also, seriously, don't blow off my suggestion of a stress test if these symptoms seem abnormal to you in the slightest. It's a very controlled way of judging whether symptoms caused by exercise are anything to worry about.

[boosterp]

In the Army going through school we learned a lot about this. The only problem if you did take O2 at the end of your run could be a headache due to the increase of O2 concentration. Now, different masks and canula deliver different concentrations so you will never get any where near 100%.

[Dr Steve]

In the Army going through school we learned a lot about this. The only problem if you did take O2 at the end of your run could be a headache due to the increase of O2 concentration. Now, different masks and canula deliver different concentrations so you will never get any where near 100%.

you bring up a great point...it really is supplemental oxygen, rather than 100% oxygen. The confusion comes in that the bottle may well have 100% oxygen in it. It's just hard to breathe the stuff in the bottle without air leaking in somewhere.

Room air is approximately 21% oxygen.
Using a nasal cannula at 2 liters boosts O2 to only 28%
Even people on ventilators don't usually get 100% O2. (though they can if necessary).

I had some other fun fact to say but now I forgot it.

EDIT:
OH! I remember now. Once in medical school, I had this intern that everyone HATED. She was just a prickly know-it-all. One day we were on rounds and she saw a patient on 24% oxygen who was doing well. "Turn him down to 20% then" she barked at the respiratory therapist and walked away. We all laffed and laffed.

[boosterp]

OH! I remember now. Once in medical school, I had this intern that everyone HATED. She was just a prickly know-it-all. One day we were on rounds and she saw a patient on 24% oxygen who was doing well. "Turn him down to 20% then" she barked at the respiratory therapist and walked away. We all laffed and laffed.

I got the joke. :laugh:

[Dr Steve]

I got the joke. :laugh:


:clap::thumbup:

It's because you're SMAHT!