Oxygen is only needed for rescue. Too much oxygen will lead to dependence and affect normal respiratory function.

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As we all know, hypoxia is closely related to the occurrence and development of many diseases, and increasing oxygen intake through oxygen inhalation can increase blood oxygen concentration and improve hypoxia, which is a common means to rescue and treat diseases. Traditionally, oxygen therapy is only needed when life is dying, but it is not. For example, the treatment of coronary heart disease can improve the patient's hypoxemia by increasing oxygen supply, which is more direct than oral vasodilators. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have poor alveolar function, and normal breathing can not meet the human body's demand for gas exchange, which leads to respiratory fatigue, asthma aggravation and lung lesions. Oxygen therapy is also very necessary.

The concentration of oxygen in the air is 2 1%. In general oxygen therapy, the oxygen concentration inhaled by patients is 30%~40%. Under the guidance of doctors, oxygen inhalation is an important means to treat diseases, which is especially helpful for patients with respiratory and circulatory diseases to improve the hypoxia state, thus improving the functions of blood vessels and respiratory system, and generally there will be no adverse reactions, that is, so-called dependence and addiction. The so-called addiction or dependence refers to mental and physical dependence. Once interrupted, withdrawal symptoms will appear. Oxygen inhalation therapy is a means of disease treatment and health care. Once the patient's physical function is restored, he can stop treatment and will not become addicted. Some patients have symptoms such as fatigue and dyspnea after stopping oxygen, which may be due to hypoxia rather than oxygen addiction. These patients need evaluation and long-term oxygen therapy if necessary.

Not long ago, the 20 19 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was announced. Three winners won the prize for discovering oxygen induction/regulation pathways. The awarding speech of the selection committee said that the three winners revealed how oxygen works in cells and how the human body adapts to environmental changes, which can be explained by metabolism, immunity, human body's adaptation to plateau and breathing. Through the study of this mechanism, we can further explore the treatment of related diseases, such as ischemia, cancer, stroke, infection, wound healing, heart failure and so on. It can be seen that oxygen plays a wide role in maintaining human health, and there will be more discoveries and progress in future research.

Rumor expert: Jia Yongxing, executive editor of Popular Medicine.

Expert: Xu Zhongqing, Deputy Director of the Department of General Medicine, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University.