Oxygen concentrators function by removing nitrogen in the ambient air and delivering highly-concentrated oxygen to the patient through tubes or face masks. A common oxygen concentrator is capable of continuous oxygen output measured in liters per minute.
Oxygen therapy is a way to get more oxygen into your lungs and bloodstream in patients with hypoxemia. Some people need extra oxygen all the time. Others need it from time to time throughout the day or overnight. A doctor will prescribe how much oxygen you need, based on blood tests. He or she will tell you how much oxygen to use per minute and how often to use it. It is used for people with diseases that make it hard to breathe, such as COPD, cystic fibrosis, or heart failure. Oxygen therapy can make it easier to breathe. The Oxygen being a drug is used under strict medical supervision.
Oxygen can be delivered to your home in tanks, or cylinders, or it can be produced in your home by a machine called an oxygen concentrator. The oxygen concentrator is getting more popular. Oxygen concentrators are the less expensive, more convenient, and safer options to compressed oxygen in metal tanks.
Oxygen Concentrator
An oxygen concentrator actually extracts the oxygen from the air around you and concentrates it. The nitrogen in the air is then released into the surrounding ambient air. The oxygen concentrator then delivers this concentrated oxygen to the patient.
How it works?
Room air is drawn into the machine through a series of filters, compressed to a pressure of 4 atmospheres, and passed into a column containing zeolite, aluminum silicate. Nitrogen is trapped by the zeolite, while oxygen passes through. Before the column becomes saturated with nitrogen the flow of air is switched to a second column; the first column is vented to atmosphere (regenerated), discharging most of the nitrogen, and the remainder of the nitrogen is removed by back flushing the column with a small flow of oxygen from the second column. As the second column approaches saturation the process is reversed.
The life of the zeolite crystals can be expected to be at least 20,000 hours which in most situations would give about 10 years’ use. The gas emerging from the columns ( 95% oxygen) passes through a small reservoir chamber and a flow control system to the patient. Most domiciliary sized machines can produce a flow of up to 4 litres/minute of oxygen. Higher flows result in a loss of concentration, and most machines are flow-limited to prevent this from occurring.
How to Use it
To breathe the oxygen, most people use a nasal cannula .This is a thin tube with two prongs that fit just inside your nose. Children and people who need a lot of oxygen may need to use a mask that fits over the nose and mouth.
Portable Oxygen concentrators can be carried in your hand bag weigh around 2-3 kg, but the Home use machine on wheels weigh 10-15 kg. Portable machine gives pulse mode and Home machine supply continuous mode O2 delivery.
Other health benefits
Doctors prescribe oxygen therapy for patients with lung or heart disease who have low levels of oxygen in their blood. Those with low oxygen in the blood can make them feel tired and short of breath. Oxygen therapy will give you extra oxygen and may help them feel better, do more, and even sleep better. But it must NOT be used at night in patients having snoring and sleep apnea as it can wash away the carbon dioxide drive keeping them breathing. But it can supplement CPAP patients in day time.
Recent times the oxygen therapy is getting more commercial in India.
Oxygen Parlor/Bar
Oxygen parlors and Bars are coming up in urban areas. The oxygen concentrators are used in Yoga clubs, Sport club, beauty parlors and internet café. There is no need of taking concentrated oxygen in normal people if you breathe fresh air, but if you are in closed chamber with no proper ventilation, it might help.
Oxygen Facial
There is a claim that breathing concentrated oxygen improves the facial glow and complexion and even removes the dark eye shadows.
Yoga and Oxygen
In principle it should help to improve the oxygen level during Pranayama if some one using concentrated oxygen.
Final Comment: Oxygen is a drug; it should be used under medical supervision.
(*One can buy it or rent it out this machine in Trivandrum)
(An oxygen concentrator is a device providing oxygen to a patient higher concentrations than available in ambient air.
Mr.Raghavan explains the health benefits of oxygen concentrator in modern life.Does it increase the complexion, does it help the sportsman,the yoga students and the hardworking IT guys…Please find out…For more details: go to http://drpaulose.com
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