Re: Oxygen therapy / Myths and Facts/Final Article

By the term "hyperbaric" does the author refer to "hyperbaric oxygenation"?

This term is bantered to include the inhalation of 100% oxygen at ambient pressures greater than normal or standard pressures at sea level as well as "compressed air therapies" where normal air, with an oxygen content of 21%, is breathed at ambient pressures greater than normal sea level.

If the author is referring to hyperbaric oxygenation of the 100% oxygen inhalation, then he is grossly incorrect in stating :

"Hyperbaric treatments are usually reference to discredit oxygen therapies, and what isn't told, isn't revealed is that hyperbaric relies upon hemoglobin to transport oxygen ..."

and,

"Hyperbaric is poor therapy or weak therapy (more accurate) because it is limitted by hemoglobins limitations..."

These statements are incorrect simply because they are not true.

There are literally 1,000s of medical and scientific publications on the Science of hyperbaric oxygenation, with adequate explanations of the process. I would offer one such description.

"The normal amount of oxygen dissolve in the plasma at sea level is 0.31 ml O2/100ml plasma; but by Henry's law, increasing teh ambient pressure dissolves more gas in the liquid, and at 3.0 ATA, the amount of oxygen dissolved in the plasma is 6.6 ml O2/100 ml plasma." Zoog EJ. The potential role of hyperbaric oxygen in the treatment of stroke. New Concepts in Cerebral Ischemia. Methods and New Frontiers in Neuroscience. RCS Lin (Ed.). CRC Press. 2002: 246-262.

I am not sure where the author of this blog is or was going with the conversation, but I am confident that the explanation of the Science is whole incorrect. Hyperbaric oxygenation does not associate itself with hemoglobin-born oxygen concentrations or tension. The effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygenation is accomplished in the plasma dissolved concentrations - totally without regard to the hemoglobin.

I do hope the author of this blog will correct the inaccurate information so that the readers will no be ill-informed or mis-lead.

Best regards to all
Peter Tweet