Everyone takes oxygen for granted until it is in short supply, then it becomes critically obvious how important oxygen is to animal and human life. Some of us do not realize this until we are faced with a chronic health problem, such as cardiovascular disease (#1 killer of human beings), cancer (#2 killer of human beings), or some kind of immune problem such as chronic infections or autoimmunity. All of these so-called diseases are related to inadequate oxygen, so understanding your relationship with oxygen can assist you greatly in avoiding diseases, treating various conditions, and ultimately staving off the maladies which can shorten your life.
The story starts about four billion years ago when the first single cell organisms developed on earth. For the next three billion years, they evolved without oxygen, until about 800 million ago, when algae in the ocean figured out how to convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into oxygen, which like today, is a gas that is very toxic to anaerobic (not living on oxygen) lifeforms such as many bacteria. In fact, when certain white blood cells in your body meet a germ, it may spray it with hydrogen peroxide (called a respiratory burst), in order to kill the germ. Eventually the algae worked their way out of the sea and became oxygen-producing plants (AKA photosynthesis), and other cells exploited the explosive fuel of oxygen for energy to convert it back into carbon dioxide and became multicellular life.
Gary Larson humorously captured this in a cartoon, in which a baseball flies out of the water onto the beach. In the next cartoon scene, an eye pops up out of the water, obviously looking for its baseball. Next is a scene of a jellyfish-looking creature with rudimentary arms, a baseball cap, and a baseball bat standing on the beach and wacking the baseball back into the sea. The last caption just shows the beach and the water, and the caption below states something like, “How life evolved out of the sea and onto land.”
All of the roughly 200 trillion cells in our body depend on oxygen (called respiration) and when they are deprived of it, the cells may be damaged (e.g., cardiovascular disease) or the cells revert to a more primitive lifeform that does not depend on oxygen, which is called cancer. Various surgical techniques are used to ensure that enough oxygen gets to the heart muscle (AKA, bypass surgery) or to cancer cells (AKA chemotherapy) as a treatment for these conditions which are largely derived from not having enough oxygen in the first place. Oxidative therapies (therapies which oxidize tissues) such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cancer, tend to destroy these primitive anaerobic cancer cells, much as the first oxygen-producing algae in the ocean annihilated much of the anaerobic bacteria 800 million years ago.
Therefore, keeping your oxygen levels up will tend to kill cancer cells, feed your vital organs like your heart, and assist your immune system in fighting off infections. Anywhere in your body where oxygen delivery and usage is threatened, can invite anaerobic cancer cells to proliferate, can injury your heart and brain which consume more oxygen than most cells in the body, and invite anaerobic germs to proliferate and cause infections or autoimmune disorders. All chronic disorders of these types, since they are caused by a lack of oxygen in the first place, will benefit from oxidative therapies, such oxygen generators, hyperbaric oxygen and IV peroxide therapies. Notice the phrase “all chronic disorders” which leaves little room for exceptions, as there are none.
One of the simplest therapies is an oxygen generator, in which an oxygen generating machine is hooked up to you via tubing and a nasal canula. The tubing from the machine can be extended and you can either go about your life with this nasal canula attached to you, or carry around a compact unit that is battery charged and continues to deliver this life-saving gas wherever you go. The larger, clunky machines which can’t be carried around (but they do roll on rollers) cost a lost less (several hundred dollars) than the small portable units (costs a few thousand dollars). Medicare and insurance companies may help to finance these units, but the criteria for getting third party coverage is rather difficult. Modern medicine has not yet realized how essential oxygen is as a therapeutic intervention, unless you are severely hypoxic and gasping for air. Therefore, the coverage for oxygen generators is generally an out-of-pocket expense.
Whatever treatments are being recommended for you for any type of illness, even serious ones like cancer, heart disease or autoimmune problems, oxygen delivery from an oxygen generator can only help you. These were in part caused by a lack of oxygen in the first place. Depending on the seriousness of any medical or psychiatric condition, I would recommend looking into enhancing the delivery of this critical nutrient, oxygen, to facilitate your healing.