PRO2 Oxygen for Contemporary Living
PrO2 is a conveniently-sized container of cooled, high-purity, breathable oxygen to aid in the recovery from a variety of physiologically stressed or impaired conditions; to revitalize during periods of physical or mental lethargy; and to stimulate the body at times when peak performance is required.
"Delivers up to three times the quantity of similar container volume products"
Numerous studies have been undertaken regarding the benefits of oxygen and the gas has been regarded as a panacea for illness and malaise since its discovery in 1774 by Joseph Priestley, who showed that a glowing splint would burst into flame when introduced into a container of this gas. In a sense, this same property is responsible for the rejuvenating effects of oxygen on live human tissue.
On breathing the newly discovered gas, Priestley wrote: -
“My breast felt peculiarly light and easy for some time afterwards. Who can tell, but that in time, this pure air may become a fashionable article of luxury. Hitherto, only two mice and myself have had the privilege of breathing it”.
PrO2 contains an adsorbent which is specially designed to store a much larger volume of oxygen than could be otherwise stored using compression alone. For this reason the device contains and delivers up to three times the quantity of similar container volume products, offering by far and away the best value breathing oxygen on the market.
"Stimulate the body"
PRO2 For SPORT
Oxygen can be used beneficially for performance enhancement and recovery during and after sport activities allowing athletes, amateur and professional, to train harder and longer - and to recover faster.
PrO2 is a safe, natural (and legal) way to gain the advantage in all sports involving strength endurance or physical exertion. Academic studies have shown that inhalation of oxygen (known as hyperoxic breathing) has a positive effect on short term recovery. By inhaling oxygen (>90% purity) during exercise, there is an increased supply of oxygen to the working muscles combined with a reduction in respiratory requirements coupled with a lower heart rate during exertion. It is therefore possible to enhance one’s training regime by increasing the intensity of exertion beyond what would normally be achievable by regular breathing of air.
Hyperoxic breathing has been demonstrated to speed recovery of return to the normal condition owing to the increased oxygen saturation of blood and tissue, rapidly alleviating the symptoms of hyperventilation, sweating, paræsthesia (pins and needles), muscle spasms and other weakened conditions associated with respiratory alkalosis.
The stark effectiveness of blood and tissue oxygenation from pre-breathing pure oxygen is demonstrated by the ability to hold one’s breath for far longer than would be possible with air alone. On 28th February 2016, Aleix Segura (under closely supervised conditions) held his breath underwater for a remarkable 24 minutes and 3 seconds after pre-breathing oxygen.
PRO2 For Leisure
All manner of leisure activities can be enhanced by breathing oxygen but some activities, such as skiing, hill walking/cycling and mountaineering derive particular benefit, owing to their taking place at higher altitude where, because of the lower atmospheric pressure, the effective oxygen concentration is lower than at sea level. Even at altitudes as comparatively low as 500 m (1,640 ft) the effective oxygen concentration falls from 20.9 to 19.6 % and at some popular skiing resorts, such as Breckenridge, Colorado, the altitude runs as high as 3,750 m (12,300 ft.) where the barometric pressure is 65 kPa (490 mm Hg) and the effective oxygen concentration is as low as 13.4 %.
Populations who live at high altitude regions have evolved and adapted to live with lower oxygen levels for example, by having higher hæmoglobin concentrations in their blood and higher lung capacities than sea level dwellers but travellers to these regions are likely to experience the hypoxic effects described. At these levels, hypoxic effects such as dizziness, nausea, headache, increased heart rate and dehydration are all too apparent (even without engagement in any skiing activity) and are caused by low blood oxygen saturation. This parameter can be readily measured by using a simple and inexpensive oximeter and readily alleviated by breathing PrO2 high purity oxygen.
High altitude resorts can offer year-round skiing and are the destinations of choice for summer. A list of some of the skiing resorts available for Europe are featured in the table, together with their consequential low effective oxygen levels, particularly at the altitudes of the highest lifts. See the table below for oxygen levels within specific locations.
Prevention or relief from the onset of hypoxia can also be essential for amateur pilots of small aircraft, operating without a pressurised cabin, and microlight pilots in addition to enthusiasts of such activities as hang gliding, paragliding and hot-air ballooning all of which can result in achievement of high to ultra high altitudes.
PRO2 For Vigour
Most of us experience periods during the day of feeling tired or drowsy, or just incapable of operating at a peak. A mid-day workout at the gym or an afternoon jog would almost certainly alleviate the condition by circulating some extra oxygenated blood around our bodies. Of course, a few hits of PrO2 high purity oxygen may be a quicker and simpler way to replenish those oxygen-starved tissues. The most popular, and obvious, theory to explain the yawning (oscitation) reflex is that it is the body’s attempt to make up for an oxygen deficiency.
Tiredness, of course, can be fatal. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has stated that driver fatigue results in many thousands of road accidents each year in the UK and may be a contributory factor in up to 20 % of such incidents, and up to a quarter of fatal and serious accidents. Such accidents tend to be high speed collisions because a driver who has fallen asleep at the wheel cannot apply the brakes or swerve to reduce the impact severity. These crashes are estimated to be about 50 % more likely to result in death or serious injury.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that sleepy driving was responsible for 72,000 crashes and 44,000 injuries in the US and an independent report has indicated that as many as 6,000 fatal crashes each year may be caused by this condition.
It is not always possible to pull over and take a nap or a break and so it is recommended that, when driving, a can of PrO2 high purity oxygen is carried in the vehicle so that the driver can be sufficiently invigorated to reach a place where he or she can safely recover.
Tiredness also reduces one’s reaction time, watchfulness and concentration, all of which are certainly key features of safe driving. The speed at which information is processed is also reduced by sleepiness and the quality of decision-making is affected.
The negative consequences of slow or poor decision making, resulting from tiredness or fatigue, is not just confined to driving. They affect almost all of the demands of modern life, from being unsafe in the workplace to failing the exam, or under-performing at the interview. Inhaling PrO2 high purity oxygen when circumstances demand can assist in self-protection and ensure that you give yourself the edge.
Flying in commercial aircraft can be very demanding on the human condition. The principal reason for this is that the cabin is typically pressurised to an altitude equivalent to 1,500 - 2,500 metres. At this pressure, the oxygen concentration is equivalent to between about 17 and 15 %, compared to the approximate 21 % experienced at sea level. The physical tiredness, nausea, headache, joint pain, breathlessness and dehydration experienced by many is essentially a result of hypoxia. Again, the pre-breathing of oxygen prior to the flight, and replenishment after the flight, will help to alleviate these effects. Oxygen can sometimes be made available during flight for people with respiratory conditions but this can be an expensive undertaking and policies vary widely between the different airlines.
Jet lag is another commonly experienced consequence of long haul travel, exacerbated by the oxygen deficiency conditions described. Temporary relief may be delivered by inhaling pure oxygen to combat the fatigue brought on by this condition and could certainly maintain you in an alert enough condition to deliver the presentation you prepared for the trip!
From a medical perspective, hangovers are not well understood but from a biochemical perspective it is known that the primary metabolite of alcohol (the indisputable cause of the hangover) is acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is formed in vivo by the oxidation of alcohol and leaves the tissues of the body in a generally oxygen-deprived state. Not surprisingly then, it is widely reported that the breathing of pure oxygen reduces the symptoms of excessive alcohol consumption by accelerating the rate at which the acetaldehyde and other toxins are metabolised.
PRO2 For Purity
According to Maslow, air is indisputably the most important of all human needs. Without sufficient quality air we could expect to survive only for minutes. Air is normally all around us: something we take for granted and can’t even see. It is only when it is in some way removed or compromised that we realise its life-sustaining preciousness.
The vital component of air is oxygen and although comprising only about 20.8 % of the normal composition, it is this gas that provides air’s energising property - a property elegantly captured in Roger McGough’s poem and enigmatically represented in Paul Preston's Digital Videograph: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF_Ph7vRYoE
Oxygen
I am the very air you breathe
your first and last breath
I welcomed you at birth
Shall bid farewell at death
I am the kiss of life
Its ebb and flow
With your last gasp
You will call my name
O..O..O..O..O..O..O..o
We live in an increasingly polluted environment owing to burgeoning industrialisation and transportation and ever increasing population. Many of the products and appliances that we use in our homes also contribute to poor air indoor air quality and can lead to toxic effects and an oxygen deficiency.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that there are approximately 600,000 annual premature deaths caused by air pollution in the 53 countries occupying the European Region and that the associated costs of these and of the diseases caused by indoor and outdoor air pollution amount to an astonishing US$ 1.6 trillion - 10 % of the 2013 GDP. The world-wide estimate of premature deaths from air pollution is 3.7 million from ambient air pollution and 4.3 million from household air pollution.
Air pollution is therefore regarded as the single most environmental health risk with 90 % of European citizens exposed to outdoor fine particulate matter above the air quality guidelines and accounting for 482,000 premature deaths from heart disease, respiratory disease, blood vessel ailments, lung cancer and strokes in 2012 alone. Indoor air pollution, in the same year, accounted for the remaining 117,000 premature deaths.
The most common pollutants to be found in the ambient air include: -
Particulate matter, ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides and lead. These and other air pollutants, with their most common sources and consequential effects on human health are described as follows: -
Asbestos - Building material, wall cladding, insulation, brake linings. Exposure usually indoors during building work and car maintenance. Causes scarring of the lungs and increased risk of lung, chest and abdominal cancer.
Benzene - Motor vehicle exhausts and chemical industrial processes. A proven human carcinogen.
1,3-Butadiene - release during manufacture, gasoline and diesel combustion, tobacco smoke, breakdown of cooking oil, forest fires. A human carcinogen.
Carbon Monoxide - Incomplete combustion of organic matter (wood, coal, oil, gas). Vehicle exhausts, heating appliances. Indoors: smoking, unvented or poorly vented heating appliances). Reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood leading to headache, nausea, vomiting, eventually collapse and death.
Lead - Outdoors: motor vehicle exhausts. Indoors: may be present in water pipes and/or old paint. Causes cumulative effects on the nervous system that may impair children's intelligence and concentration.
Nitrogen Dioxide - Outdoors: combustion of fossil fuels, road vehicles' power generation, industrial processes. Indoors: unvented gas cookers and other appliances. Causes throat and eye irritation (also involved in photochemical smog formation).
Ozone - Product of chemical reaction between other pollutants (nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons in the presence of sunlight). Causes running eyes, throat irritation, breathing difficulties.
PM10 (particles less than 10 micron diameter) - Combustion processes and natural sources such as dust, diesel and smoke. Small particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and cannot be expelled. They may cause irritation and/or carry with them toxic or carcinogenic substances.
Sulphur Dioxide - Domestic and industrial burning of coal. Results in irritation of the nerves in the nose, throat and airways. May also lead to constriction of the airways.
VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), e.g. Formaldehyde. Paints, varnishes, glues and preservatives used in wood products. Foam insulation. Exposure indoors during decoration or construction. Gives rise to breathing difficulties, eye and skin irritation, nausea and dizziness.
Radon - Rocks which contain naturally occurring radioactive material emit Radon gas. Results in an increased risk of lung cancer.
Cigarette Smoke, Contains nicotine, tar, formaldehyde, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. Eye, throat and lung irritation. Increased liability to respiratory illness. Increased risk of lung cancer. Non-smokers breathing in others' smoke are also at risk.
Microorganisms and allergens - From biological contaminants, moulds, spores, viruses and bacteria. May cause pneumonia-like respiratory illnesses, allergic reactions.
Carbon monoxide (CO), for example, is produced by fires, faulty boilers, fireplaces and vehicle exhausts in addition to other sources, including a variety of industrial processes. It is generated in direct and passive smoking and can accumulate to high concentrations in multi-storey car parks and road tunnels leading to a considerable diminution of air quality.
Known commonly as the ‘silent killer’, overexposure to carbon monoxide has resulted in acute and chronic death on numerous occasions and hundreds of people continue to die every year from carbon monoxide poisoning, in addition to those caused by fire.
Hæmoglobin (Hb) is an iron-containing metalloprotein contained in the red blood cells of all mammals. Its main function is to carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the tissues in the body to enable metabolic respiration.
The poisoning action of carbon monoxide results from its binding action to hæmoglobin because the CO molecule competes very effectively with oxygen to form carboxyhæmoglobin (COHb), having a binding affinity that is some 250 times greater. The resulting effect of carbon monoxide inhalation is that even small amounts of CO drastically reduce the ability of the hæmoglobin to transport oxygen.
Carboxyhæmoglobin is a bright red substance and the victims of CO poisoning may have a ruddy appearance, as opposed to a white or blue complexion, as normally witnessed in victims of other types of asphyxia. Headache and nausea can occur in atmospheres as low as 0.02 % CO and unconsciousness will follow at concentrations of 0.1 %; higher concentrations can result in coma and death.
CO inhalation, through direct or passive tobacco smoking, increases the COHb concentration in the blood and whilst not acutely fatal can cause impairment in the longer term. The initial effect of breathing carbon monoxide from tobacco smoke or smoking appears to be an acute increase in the heart rate in order to compensate the oxygen saturation in the blood. Thereafter, the blood oxygen saturation level (SpO2) can fall to alleviate the increased pulse (heart) rate until a compromise is achieved between pulse rate and SpO2. If exposure ceases and the carbon monoxide is allowed to egress, both the pulse rate and SpO2 will return to the individual’s normal levels.
The half-life of COHb in the blood (the time taken to reduce its concentration to a half) is 4 - 6 hours. This can be reduced to between 35 and 70 minutes by the administration of oxygen (the lower number applies when a 95 % oxygen/5 % CO2 mixture is employed).
PrO2 can therefore be used for revitalization following exposure to lower levels of carbon monoxide and other pollutants or it can be employed in a variety of potentially life-saving situations following overexposure in order to aid resuscitation whilst waiting for the emergency services. These include: -
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Victims of smoke inhalation from fires
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Victims suspected of carbon monoxide poisoning from poorly vented or faulty combustion appliances
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Suicide attempts by use of vehicle exhaust fumes
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Following direct or passive exposure to tobacco smoke or exposure to poorly ventilated vehicle enclosures.
According to WHO, the global tropospheric background concentration of carbon monoxide is in the range of 0.05 - 0.12 parts per million (ppm). In large European cities the 8-hour average level is typically below 17 ppm but can peak at about 50 ppm. In Southampton in the United Kingdom, commuters using bicycles have been shown to be exposed to mean concentrations of 6.1– 20.5 mg/m3 (5.3–17.9 ppm) with short peak values as high as 71 mg/m3 (62 ppm).
Carbon monoxide levels have been measured to be highest in personal cars, the mean concentrations being 2–5 times the levels measured in streets or inside subway trains. Some population groups are particularly exposed. These are people who are continuously exposed to exhaust from combustion engines at their work such as bus drivers, taxi drivers, policemen, traffic wardens, and garage and tunnel workers. Additionally, firefighters and workers in petroleum, gas and chemical plants are all potentially exposed. Clearly, smokers have higher exposures than non-smokers, and high levels of environmental tobacco smoke in homes and vehicles increase personal exposures appreciably.
PrO2 high purity oxygen can alleviate and counteract the effects resulting from ambient air pollution and provide replenishment of oxygen levels to the blood and tissues of the body.