If you think pure oxygen is good for you, think again. Mak Mun San wrote about the Oxia Personal Oxygen on the 23 Dec 07 issue of the Sunday Times. The company claimed that a “two- to three-second recharge of fresh oxygen oxygenates the brain, calms the nerves, regulates the heartbeat and helps you focus on what you need to do”. Experts interviewed for the article were skeptical of the claims. At 164USD ($238) per package and 19USD ($28) per refill, shouldn’t you take a closer look at their claims?
Personal oxygen is not Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is the breathing of pure oxygen in a sealed chamber pressurized to 1.5 to 3 times normal atmospheric pressure. The number of hours exposed, applied pressure and oxygen flow rate are prescribed and controlled by heathcare professionals.
According to the American Cancer Society, HBOT may be useful in treating soft tissue damage or delayed bone damage caused by radiation. HBOT also helps people with chronic lung diseases. For instance, people suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) have obstructed or swollen airways preventing them from breathing in sufficient air and thus oxygen. For them, breathing in oxygen-rich air helps restore the oxygen absorbed by the lungs to normal levels.
More significantly, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved HBOT for treating decompression sickness, gangrene, brain abscess, air bubbles in the blood, and injuries in which tissues are not getting enough oxygen. All other claims such as alleviating chronic fatigue, treating sports injuries or curing cancer are not supported.
Are you suffering from any of the above-mentioned ailments? If you do, you may want to seek proper medical advice. If you don’t, HBOT doesn’t do anything for you. And in case you haven’t realised by now, HBOT has to be administered by trained medical professionals.
Dubious claims
At this point, i checked out Oxia’s website. What i found are many vague and unsubstantiated claims:
- May alleviate headaches, fatigue, effects of jet-lag and breathing in polluted air.
- The heart needs plenty of oxygen to function at its peak.
- Professional athletes regularly use oxygen to extend their limits of exhaustion and promote faster recovery.
- Oxygen assists in breaking down food, helps the metabolism and aids digestion.
There are many possible causes for headaches. No evidence suggests that breathing in pure oxygen either addresses the cause or alleviates the symptoms of headaches. Jet-lag is caused by disruptions to our body clock (circadian rhythm). Medical professionals propose sleep, relaxation, moderate exercise and sensible diet as the best way of combating jet-lag. As for polluted air, common sense tells me you need an air purifier with proper filters – not a 3 to 5 min shot of pure oxygen.
What do you mean by “at its peak”? Constant heart rate? To my knowledge, our body functions perfectly with atmospheric air which contains 21% oxygen.
Can anyone explain what “extend their limits of exhaustion” means? “promote faster recovery” of what? This website says that there isn’t any evidence linking HBOT with quicker recovery from injury in endurance athletes.
Hard as i tried, i could not find any information linking higher oxygen level to better digestion.
The Disclaimer
Perhaps most telling of all is their disclaimer:
This Product is intended for recreational use only and is not intended for any medical use whatsoever. Oxia makes no claim that the Product provides users with any health or medicinal benefits, and Oxia bears no responsibility for any retailers selling the Product who make any such claims. Any person with any type of health or medical condition should consult their physician prior to use of the Product.
Tags: Personal oxygen