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Liquid Oxygen

Question
Dear Expert Team,

first of all, kudos to your efforts in answering the numerous questions.

I am a little puzzled, since I just read an article on oxygen administration in which TO Hirche said (in answering the question of a 41-year-old patient) that additional oxygen administration leads to an “increased inflammatory reaction in the lung.”

What does that mean? I am very concerned now, since I also take additional oxygen at night.

Thank you very much in advance.

Kind regards.
Answer
Hello,

thank you very much for commending our forum.

As with any information taken from the internet, there is a risk with our expert advice as well (despite all carefulness) for readers to misunderstand some points, which can then even lead to their uncertainty about them.

You are pointing to our correspondence with a CF patient whose practitioner refused a long-term oxygen treatment due to good blood gas values. The patient asked us whether she should buy an oxygen concentrator in order to undertake a therapy attempt autonomously.

Our answer was meant to clarify that, when used for medical purposes, oxygen must be considered a drug. And like virtually all other drugs, oxygen can have side effects too.

Apart from possible effects on the respiratory regulation, the formation of free radicals and other reactive compounds is among oxygen’s typical side effects. Physiologically, these can be used to defend germs that have invaded, but they can also cause collateral damage in the inflamed host tissue.

However, like with all other drugs, in case of critical indications and an adequate monitoring of the development by your doctor, the benefits of a medical oxygen therapy should distinctly outweigh the risks.

I recommend having your outpatient doctor explain this complicated issue to you in person once again. I am convinced he will be able to further calm you about this.

Kind regards,
TO Hirche
08.01.2009