Nitrox - Is it bad for us?

[Steve in Sharm]

I know this should be in the medical section but feel it will get a greater viewing here....

Just finishing reading one of my wifes' 'womens' magazines and an article on O2 Free Radicals and how they are bad for us, causing all sorts of illness's and ageing etc etc, so I checked the wiki page and got confirmation :(

Skipping a few bits...................

So my Q is, as a diver who does 2-3 dives a day on 32% Nitrox (and therefore consuming a hell of a load of extra/pressurised O2) is this bad for me? :(

My thinking is that if my intake of O2 is way higher than normal peoples, surely my chances of a few extra O2 Free Radicles winging around my body is also much higher - and therefore by diving Nitrox I am exposing myself to all these possible old age illness's :(

All the articles I have read advocate Vit C as an anti oxidant - will extra Vit C counteract the extra O2 in my system? :)

Anyone know of any studies on this? perhaps if not we could get our friends at DAN to do one.

Regards

Steve

[steve anderson]

Is Nitrox bad for you? Er, hhmm, how should I put this........No NO NO no


Yes, oxygen radicals are bad for you. However they are available to the body from two main sources.

The first is called endogenous, this is the formation of oxygen radical such as the superoxide radical through partial and incomplete metabolic processes and is independent of the amount of oxygen you actually breath in [unless of course you are beathing in no oxygen at all, in which case it probably wouldn't matter too much after a minute or so!]

The second source is exogenous, this is where you take in the oxygen radicals from outside sources such as pollutants and cigarette smoke. Here the solution is simple - DON'T SMOKE OR BREATH DIESEL FUMES!!!! Just a thought.


To be honest, even if nitrox did give a slight increase in radical formation, I'd take a few extra wrinkles than a bend any day - even with my ugly mug!

keep diving
Steve

[MattS]

I know this should be in the medical section but feel it will get a greater viewing here....

Just finishing reading one of my wifes' 'womens' magazines and an article on O2 Free Radicals and how they are bad for us, causing all sorts of illness's and ageing etc etc, so I checked the wiki page and got confirmation :( Humans have been exposed to free radicals for oooh....well forever :D

So my Q is, as a diver who does 2-3 dives a day on 32% Nitrox (and therefore consuming a hell of a load of extra/pressurised O2) is this bad for me? Breathing is bad for you, it exposes your lungs to all sorts of pollutants. Some are man made others are natural. They all stress your lungs one way or another. And what about all those nasty germs and bacteria. Amazing you haven't keeled over all ready. You could of course insulate yourself in a sterile environment but personally I think that sort of defeats the point of being alive in the first place.

I read a very good article on the dangers of consuming Di-Hydrogen Oxide once. The stuff is plainly poisonous but Western governments spend millions encouraging the population to consume it in ever greater quantities. It's a huge conspiracy. Di-Hydrogen Oxide, stay away from the stuff I tell you :D

Alternatively try to keep a sense of proportion when reading sensationalist tabloid science articles in Womens comics and the Daily Male.

My thinking is that if my intake of O2 is way higher than normal peoples, surely my chances of a few extra O2 Free Radicals winging around my body is also much higher - and therefore by diving Nitrox I am exposing myself to all these possible old age illness's I had a chat with a guy at let's say the more intelligent end of the Technical Diving fraternity and he pointed me toward the slightly relevant studies which are concerned with degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. After reading for many hours and getting lost in the microchemistry quite a few times I think I got a handle on it.

Normoxic Dioxygen (air to you and me) is an unstable molecule called a diradical. It lacks a couple electrons. It is the unstable nature of di-oxygen which causes it to be so reactive and hence a suitable fuel to drive metabolism. So when you breath air, the oxygen in it grabs a couple electrons from molecules in the tissues that make up the CNS. Your body is quite used to this and simply produces a couple extra electrons but that takes a little time. Providing your body can produce these electrons faster than the free radicals are robbing them all is well. In degenerative diseases like Alzheimers it is thought that for some reason the body does not re-stabilise the molecules in the CNS that are affected by free-radicals.

When you breathe an increased PPO you can assume the concentration of free radicals increases. We then have a mechanism for a CNS hit where there are so many free radicals robbing electrons from CNS tissue that the body can not produce electrons fast enough to replace the ones being robbed. Keep it up and eventually the brain stem destabilises causing a tox hit. Hence Technical Divers used the CNS Clock and air-break concepts to combat the effects of breathing elevated PPOs for long periods. Providing you are other wise fit and healthy these principles and the limits advocated for them appear to be at least as safe as decompression tables and probably more so.

All the articles I have read advocate Vit C as an anti oxidant - will extra Vit C counteract the extra O2 in my system?Depends on your diet. Personally I am not a fan of supplements unless I have something obviously wrong with me like a cold. I make sure I eat plenty of tomatoes and raw spinach through the Summer months. Apparently they might afford protection from the effects of breathing elevated PPOs...but I just happen to like them :D

[Chris aka divingchef]

I make sure I eat plenty of tomatoes :D

Ohh dear they are full of Glycoalkaloids,which cause a Depressed central nervous system; kidney inflammation; carcinogenic; birth defects; reduced iron uptake. (less O2 uptake)
Personally I prefer a bottle of red wine to eradicate those free radicals. ;)

Ahh and while I´m here the same goes for potatoes :D :D



Chris

[Chris Cherrington]

....
Personally I prefer a bottle of red wine to eradicate those free radicals. ;)
.........

Spoken like a true European diver :D

Chris

[John Bantin]

Diving is bad for you.

[JamesW]

Diving is bad for you.

I agree the M25 & M27 is getting worse :D

[Nigel Hewitt]

I agree the M25 & M27 is getting worse :D
'are' getting worse.


PS: A free radical is a political extremist who isn't in jail yet.

[toptribefan]

Diving is bad for you.


Nearly correct, John............

Living is bad for you.

[STEVE MC]

Diving, women (or men depending upon your swing), drink, salt etc etc are all bad for us........thats why we do it:)
Steve

[adrian wrighton]

work is bad for you - but makes the tax man happy.:p

[Ron Evans]

Women are bad for you - but you have to die of something!

[MattS]

Ohh dear they are full of Glycoalkaloids,There was I thinking they were more full of Lycopene.

Ahh and while I´m here the same goes for potatoesDon't forget the aubergines and chilli peppers.

There are lots of facts about tomatoes (http://www.tomatoesareevil.com/tomatohealth.htm) .

And you really should make yourself aware of the dangers of Di-Hydrogen Oxide (http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html)

:D

[Chris aka divingchef]

There was I thinking they were more full of Lycopene.

Don't forget the aubergines and chilli peppers.

There are lots of facts about tomatoes (http://www.tomatoesareevil.com/tomatohealth.htm) .

And you really should make yourself aware of the dangers of Di-Hydrogen Oxide (http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html)

:D

It was you that was advocating the use of tomatoes ;)
or were you thinking along these lines http://images.google.es/images?q=tomatina+bu%C3%B1ol&ndsp=18&svnum=10&um=1&hl=es&rlz=1T4GFRG_esES212ES212&start=0&sa=N

:D :D :D

[mike etheredge]

Only if contained in huge twinsets... personaly I prefer Trimix in small cylinders:cool:

[MattS]

It was you that was advocating the use of tomatoes ;) I thought I was advocating the perils of selective science ;)...and mentioned I liked tomatoes :cool:

http://theocornelissen.sp.nl/images/tomatina_02.jpg

[Gordon]

Living is bad for you.

Its a terminal disease. ;)