From ilva@email.unc.edu Fri Jun 30 22:54:15 EDT 1995
Article: 9 of alt.health.oxygen-therapy
Path: bigblue.oit.unc.edu!ilva
From: ilva@email.unc.edu (Jeffrey Johnston)
Newsgroups: alt.health.oxygen-therapy
Subject: Re: General health?
Date: 29 Jun 1995 00:44:18 GMT
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: Paul_Horne@rand.org (Paul Horne) wrote:
: Oxygen therapy gives your cells the oxygen they need to survive and
: work properly. I don't know that it would accelerate the aging
: process. As a matter of fact I would assume the opposite. With my
: cells getting enough oxygen to become stronger and healthier, I would
: think that, they would combat the harmful chemicals and other "stuff"
: that causes my body to "breakdown" and age.

Get to the local library (or nearby medical if there is one) and check 
out a book or two on physiology. Yes, we all need oxygen because we have 
oxidative metabolisms, but this comes at a price. Oxygen is reactive, 
i.e., toxic. Not only will it "burn" food to release energy, but it will 
also oxidize healthy tissues. Why do you think the body has anti-oxi-
dants such as superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and others? 
Because oxygen and oxidative radicals are *harmful* to the body. Just 
because you need oxygen to survive does not mean that it is totally 
salutory and without a harmful side. Remember that we need iodine to 
survive, too, but it's also poisonous in high doses.

: With more oxygen in my system, I have more energy, I feel better, and
: my body seems to work better. Those things don't seem bad to me. I
: guess that, in my humble opinion, that is better than oxygen
: deprivation.

Too much of anything is not necessarily a good thing. When neonatal units 
were still the latest technological wonder in the late 30s, a number of 
infants suffered irreversible lung damage when put on pure oxygen for 
several days running. Pure, 100% oxygen is toxic if you're exposed for it 
for more than a few days straight. Look it up. It's true.

: As far as ozone being poisonous and unstable? I don't have any comment
: on that except that ozone is oxygen and when administered properly, I
: believe it can be very helpful. Ozone protects us, it's all the
: pollution that harms us.

Ozone protects us several thousand feet up where it screens us from ultra-
violet light. Down here on the surface, it's considered a pollutant. If 
you're in a big city, listen to the summer pollution reports during the 
weather broadcasts. Ozone *is* a common summer pollutant. It's harmful to 
people with lung disease. It's so reactive that it can bleach the color 
>from  objects such as house paint. There are entire medical journals 
devoted to the issue of free-radical damage. Find yourself a medical 
library and read up on the damage that oxygen can do. And if you insist 
on exposing yourself to ozone in some belief that it will energize you or 
cleanse your body (the same way chlorine gas would!) at least take 
vitamins C and E everyday to help your body protect itself against the 
damaging effects. 




