Sydney’s Oxygen Bar: Is It For Suckers?

This is actually EXTREMELY bad for your health!

Biological systems, such as the human body, exist in states of equilibrium, and this is true for reduction-oxidation pathways.

That is, although we breath oxygen, it’s consumption during metabolism is associated with an underly rate of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, which are produced when the enzymatic pathways extracting energy from the oxygen go wrong. These ROS react with and damage important cellular components such as DNA. To combat these ROS, the cells within out body contain anti-oxidants, and the and the amount of anti-oxidants present exists in equilibrium with the amount of ROS that are present.

When you switch from breathing air, which is approximately 20% oxygen, to breathing 100% oxygen, you throw out the equilibrium as higher oxygen content in the blood raises the amount of ROS in our circulation. Because the amount of ROS rises so suddenly, the bodies anti-oxidant defences lags behind, creating a situation where highly reactive free radical species, such as super oxide, are free to attack and damage your cells.

As a real world example, studies have shown that rates of leukaemia are higher in children that received 100% oxygen immediately following birth, compared to babies that received air. The 100% oxygen floods the babies system, which in turn raises the amount of ROS produced. The ROS then overwhelms the new borns anti-oxidant defences and the unbalanced ROS is free to attack and damage DNA. At a fundamental level, cancer occurs following two key events: firstly, the cell loses its ability to regulate its cell cycle due to a destructive mutation in one of the genes involved, such as P53. Secondly, the cell loses its ability to undergo a programmed cell death, which would normally occurs when the cell loses its ability to regulate its cell cycle. Exposure to the 100% oxygen as new borns does not immediately induce cancer, however it puts the newborn in a situation where ROS are free to induce one of these destructive changes. Having sustained one of the mutations immediately following birth, the new born is then at a greater risk of developing cancer for the remainder of its life, which manifests as increased rates of leukaemia among the children.

Too much of a good thing can indeed kill you.

PS. If you’ve read this far you are probably thinking that administering 100% oxygen to new borns is obviously really bad, but the fact is that it’s actually standard practice for the care of a new born, so you yourself were probably sucking down 100% oxygen just moments after birth. hmmmmm

Replace “suckers” with “wankers”

I have a question for all you critics. If a higher concentration of oxygen is so bad for you, why is it that when the ambulance picks up a patient the first thing they do is put on an oxygen mask. I’m guessing it helps them relax. Also if you have ever watched the NFL you would also notice the players on the side line with an oxygen mask. I guess they’re recovering and need a quick hit of an energy boost. If anyone actually researches the benefits of oxygen you will notice experts do say that a higher concentration of oxygen is not harmful and can have a lot of benefits. The American lung association have also put out a statement saying that oxygen bars are safe and are not harmful. It is true that a higher concentration of oxygen is toxic, but only at 100% at a period of 4 hours. How is an oxygen bar even close when it is 90% at max 20 minutes. At the end of the day, too much of any good thing is no good. The USA have been experiencing oxygen bars for 15 years including myself. I enjoyed the experience and I’m glad we now have one in our own city.