Inhaling oxygen = reversing aging?
Oxygen is an important substance required for human breathing. Oxygen enters the human body through the lungs and is carried by red blood cells to various tissues and organs of the human body, providing nutrition for cell metabolism.However, as the human body ages, its oxygen uptake capacity continues to decline. According to a study conducted by Professor Hermrnasen in 1973:
1. A 70kg adult breathes about 20,000 times a day and inhales about 0.75kg of oxygen per day.
2. Women’s oxygen uptake capacity peaks between 15 and 25 years old and declines at a rate of 2.5% per year.
3. Men’s oxygen uptake capacity peaks between the ages of 20 and 30 and declines at a rate of 2% per year.
Aging is a natural physiological process of the human body and an irreversible phenomenon. However, aging is affected by many factors, including environmental factors, genetic factors, psychological factors, diseases, lifestyle, etc. It is the result of the interaction of multiple factors.
What is the “hypoxia aging theory”？
Some scholars believe that individual aging begins at birth. In this sense, the human life process is the aging process.Moreover, chronic hypoxia and aging are mutually causal. Chronic hypoxia accelerates our aging, and aging itself brings chronic hypoxia to the body.
After entering old age, the basic physiological functions of the human body degenerate, including the degeneration of the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, and central nervous system. The above results of physiological aging directly cause the elderly to have a reduced oxygen intake, a reduced ability to transport oxygen, and a reduced efficiency in utilizing oxygen, causing the entire body tissues to be in a state of chronic hypoxia to varying degrees.
If the body is in a state of chronic hypoxia, the oxygen transported to the organs will also decrease, and the organ functions will be affected or even unable to function, thereby causing various chronic diseases, degeneration of physiological functions, and accelerated aging. Therefore, human aging and chronic hypoxia are two sides of the same coin and influence each other.
In 1969, foreign scholars measured that the arterial oxygen partial pressure of the elderly decreased by 3 mmHg for every year of age, that is, the oxygen partial pressure gradually decreased with age, resulting in hypoxia – also known as the “hypoxia aging theory.”
Oxygen accounts for the highest proportion of substances needed by humans, up to 61%, followed by carbon, accounting for 20%, and hydrogen accounts for 12%. The rest such as nitrogen, calcium, chlorine, phosphorus, sulfur, fluorine, sodium, magnesium and iron all account for very small proportions.
Chronic hypoxia and common geriatric diseases
- Many geriatric diseases are chronic diseases, which may affect the body’s oxygen supply or be triggered by hypoxia. In short, they are mostly related to oxygen.
- The brain is the organ with the highest demand for oxygen in the human body and is also extremely sensitive to hypoxia.
- When hypoxia first occurs, the human body will respond with a compensatory protective response.
- If compensatory responses fail to meet the body’s needs, brain cell damage will be difficult to recover. A series of pathological changes will subsequently develop in vital organs such as the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys.
How to recover the “lost” oxygen ？
Aging is a natural physiological process of the human body. Oxygen inhalation cannot truly achieve “reverse growth” of age, nor can it completely avoid the adverse effects of various geriatric diseases. However, it can minimize the severity of most geriatric diseases, prevent the disease from worsening, promote recovery, and slow down the aging process.
By regularly and timely supplementing oxygen intake, the elderly can directly make up for the loss of essential oxygen supply due to decreased physiological function, so as to maintain the normal function of various organs in the body.
Post time: Aug-04-2025