Can you have too much oxygen?

[sflkjweio]

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I was browsing Facebook and saw that one of my friends went to a tanning place and was breathing 97% oxygen for 15 minutes. She did it because they told her it would help her recover from soreness after working out.

My question: Is that dangerous? And when would too much oxygen become too much?

I'm just in my first year, so I haven't learned about that yet, and I was just curious.

 

[sazerac]

I was browsing Facebook and saw that one of my friends went to a tanning place and was breathing 97% oxygen for 15 minutes. She did it because they told her it would help her recover from soreness after working out.

My question: Is that dangerous? And when would too much oxygen become too much?

I'm just in my first year, so I haven't learned about that yet, and I was just curious.

At atmospheric pressure, "One or two days of exposure without oxygen breaks are needed to cause such damage."

Oxygen toxicity - Wikipedia

 

[Gurby]

Sure you can have too much oxygen! There are literally dozens of studies correlating hyperoxemia with worse outcomes in patients especially with cardiac issues.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/708717
"Conclusions: Hyperoxia from high-concentration oxygen therapy causes a marked reduction in coronary blood flow and myocardial oxygen consumption. These physiologic effects may have the potential to cause harm and are relevant to the use of high-concentration oxygen therapy in the treatment of cardiac and other disorders."

 

[673441]

Too much of anything is no bueno... general rule of thumb as you venture through the wilderness of medical school.


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[B_52]

I also heard you can die from inhaling too much dihydrogen oxide as well.

 

[Gorne]

We are delicate beings. Laying down for too long will kill you, walking for too long will kill you, excess heat, excess cold, excess water, excess sun, excess food.

There's a balance, and then even time will kill you.

 

[username456789]

Everything is poison. It just depends on the dose.

This is like middle school science stuff.

 

[tyler_durden]

Apollo 1 certainly did

 

[kamakazi5]

Apollo 1 certainly did

Too soon, bro.

 

[DrSnips]

It is certainly possible to have too much oxygen; most of the people I dislike have too much.

 

[*brobro*]

Keep in mind that the method of delivery makes a big difference in terms of how much O2 the person is actually breathing. Chances are, if this is at a tanning booth, it's probably more of a gimmick than anything. I'm not going to regurgitate the facts on all the different o2 delivery devices but if you're really curious, you should look at the difference between things like nasal cannula, venturi masks, non-rebreathers, endotracheal tubes, etc. in terms of how much o2 they allow you to deliver.

 

[DocWinter]

Hyperoxemia can cause retinal damage, especially in newborns.

I doubt your friend had an unhealthy exposure in that limited time frame.

 

[B_52]

I had this weird aunt once who told me you can die from watching too much porn.


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[MSTP18]

Keep in mind that the method of delivery makes a big difference in terms of how much O2 the person is actually breathing. Chances are, if this is at a tanning booth, it's probably more of a gimmick than anything. I'm not going to regurgitate the facts on all the different o2 delivery devices but if you're really curious, you should look at the difference between things like nasal cannula, venturi masks, non-rebreathers, endotracheal tubes, etc. in terms of how much o2 they allow you to deliver.

This. Probably not actually getting 97% O2 into the lungs.
Ox tox is why trimix and heliox diving exist for super deep SCUBA diving

 

[anbuitachi]

if you grab a liter of pure O2 and inject it in your veins. it wont end well