Jack (Shu-­‐fan) Huang Chem 151 Importance of Oxygen Oxygen is one of the most essential elements needed to sustain life. Oxygen plays a role in promoting natural immune responses, respiration system, as well as in the metabolism of the living organisms which are not anaerobic. Absence of oxygen will cause major problems to our health which may leads to death if critical. The presence of oxygen is crucial to keep the life cycle going; thus, it is important to understand what oxygen is, its effects in an organism, and factors affecting to our oxygen count. The generation and maintenance of all our body processes are supported by four basic life-­‐support components: carbohydrates, water, proteins, and energy. Oxygen being the over-­‐riding key ingredient in all of the mentioned life-­‐support components, 80% of our metabolic energy production relies on oxygen. Since the human body is largely composed of oxygen; therefore, low levels of oxygen can disrupt the body’s ability to function correctly. Sufficient oxygen helps the body in its ability to rebuild itself and maintain a strong and healthy immune system. Oxygen is essential for cellular respiration in all aerobic organisms, because it provides the requirements to generate ATP for more complex functions throughout the body. In vertebrates, oxygen diffuses through membranes in the lungs and into red blood cells. Hemoglobin binds oxygen, changing its color from bluish red to bright red. After being carried in blood to a body tissue in need of oxygen, oxygen is handed off to an enzyme that has an active site with an atom of iron. The enzyme then uses that oxygen to catalyze many oxidation reactions in the body metabolism. Carbon dioxide, a waste product, is released from the cell and into the blood, where it combines with bicarbonate and hemoglobin for transport to the lungs. Blood then circulates back to the lungs and the whole process repeats. One of the most crucial functions of oxygen in a human body is its ability to initiate oxidation in our body. Within our body, there are many waste and by products that are useless and often times harmful to our body, many of these wastes can only be gotten rid of by oxidation. When the oxygen molecules are being altered becomes “Free radicals” presented in our bodies, damaging our own cells and DNA, causing degeneration and diseases known as cancer. Disease such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia, melanoma, as well as both chronic and acute myeloid leukemia will cause the patient to experience oxidative stress, thereby decreasing the oxygen concentration being circulated throughout the system.[5] This is the reason why blood pressures and oxygen concentration were the first two things to be monitored. After understanding the importance of having consistent amount of oxygen flow into our body, factors that may affect our body’s oxygen supply should also be aware of. Factors like diminishing amounts of atmospheric oxygen concentration, dietary, stress on the body, increase of acidity within our body, shortage of oxygen leading to infections, and lack of exercise were all crucial to maintaining good oxygen count. First, today’s air pollution is much greater than it was ten or twenty years ago. Physiologists understand that breathing polluted air, or breathing air that contains less oxygen puts tremendous stress on the human body. Paleontologists have analyzed the oxygen in air bubbles trapped in fossilized amber from the Jurassic Era. Researchers revealed that the oxygen levels were significantly higher then than they are today. It is also a possible theory to make that the extinction of the dinosaurs was affected greatly by the drastic change of oxygen level.[1] Human bodies may also suffer the same, if not, close to the consequence of the dinosaurs due to our increasing air pollution. Second, having an unhealthy diet could also force the body to use up more of its oxygen reserves than usual in order to metabolize the preservatives and what few nutrients may actually be in the ‘food.’ Complex carbohydrates and raw fruits and vegetables are high in oxygen with as much as 50% of the weight of these foods made up of oxygen.[2] The percentage of oxygen in fats is less than 15% while the percentage of oxygen in protein is between 20% and 40%, depending on the protein’s amino acid profile. Dense food compounds, such as fats and proteins, are not only low in oxygen content, but also require extra oxygen from the body to convert them into energy which further depletes the body’s oxygen reserves. Third, emotional stress produces adrenaline and adrenaline-­‐related hormones, requiring the body to draw on its oxygen reserves for their production and eventual oxidation. Forth, individuals with chronically acidic systems also use up oxygen reserves which lead to a cycle of toxin accumulation and oxygen depletion. One way in which the body combats excess acidity is by trying to neutralize it with oxygen with continuously diverting oxygen away from its primary metabolic functions and direct it toward the acidic cells and tissues.[5] Fifth, when body oxygen falls to extremely low levels for prolonged periods of time, the body may become a breeding ground for harmful bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and other infectious agents because most of these are anaerobic. When the oxygen content of the body is within a normal level, infectious microorganisms have a more difficult time breeding and multiplying.[4] Low oxygen level would cause the cells not able to receive adequate and consistent supply of oxygen, making them less resistant to invasive microorganisms. Last but not least, the body responds to exercise by increasing oxygen intake by breathing harder and deeper. This increase in blood oxygen levels helps the body perform two very important functions: receiving additional oxygen permitting the creation and realse of more energy for the exercise, also increasing the supply of oxygen is utilized by the body to remove by-­‐product wastes that are the result of a higher metabolic rate. A sedentary lifestyle can inhibit the removal of toxic wastes from the body. The properties of oxygen holds essential to our daily lives, not only it holds the ability to keep us alive by breathing it, it also holds a tremendous role in our immune system to fend off against various kinds of infectious microorganisms.[1] Without oxygen in our system, even the most harmless bacteria in our digestive system can go rampage and eventually put our life on the line; therefore, it is important to begin building up awareness to our air pollutions as well as doing what we can to maintain a good “fresh” air not only for our generations, but the generations that follows.[3] It can be as simple as planting a tree, utilize the public transportations, or even do the work necessary under day lights to reduce the energy usage during the night. Work Cited 1. “Importance of oxygen content.” Journal of Solid State Chemistry. M. Hervieu, A. Maignan, C. Martin, C. Michel, J. Provost, B. Raveau, Volume 75, Issue 1, July 1988. 2. “Doctors Recommend Liquid Oxygen Formula.” Health News International Inc. Resources. Volume14, Number 8. 2003. 3. “The Importance of Oxygen in the Nutrient Substrate: for Plants-­‐Relation of the Nitratetion to Respiration.” Soil Science. Gilber, S. G., Shive, J. W. Journal. Volume 59, Issue 6. Pg 453-­‐460. June 1945. 4. “Importance of oxygen transport in clinical medicine.” Critical Care Medicine. Hechtman, Herbert B. MD; Grindlinger, Gene A. MD; Vegas, Armando M. MD; Valeri, C. Robert MD. Journal. Sept. 1979. 5. “Importance of Oxygen-­‐Haemoglobin Binding to Oxygen Transport in Congestive Heart Failure.” British Heart Journal. R M Bersin, M Kwasman, D Lau, C Klinski, K Tanaka, P Khorrami, T DeMarco, C Wolfe, K Chatterjee. Journal. Pg. 443-­‐447. 1993.