Lauren Carlstrom, O+ Team Member |
If you’ve been living in a high-altitude city like Bozeman, Montana or Denver, Colorado for more than a few months, you probably feel fully acclimated to the higher elevation. However, the “thin air" - or larger oxygen molecules that expand due to atmospheric pressure - may not be all you need to breathe for a healthy lifestyle. The truth is you can still suffer from hypoxia and altitude sickness while living at a higher elevation, no matter how long you’ve been a resident, and the negative effects can be serious (Fixler). For that reason alone, the team at Oxygen Plus (O+) recommends you look into recreational oxygen to feel and perform your best while enjoying everything your high-altitude lifestyle has to offer.
What makes it so difficult to accurately diagnose mountain sickness and things like high-altitude pulmonary edema (also known as HAPE) is the fact that its symptoms - feeling tired, congestion and coughing - are very similar to the symptoms associated with general sickness. This similarity makes patients and medical health professionals think the issue has no relation to compromised or below healthy oxygen levels. (FYI, for most healthy individuals, optimal levels of oxygen range from 96% to 99% SpO2. Using a pulse oximeter, such as the iHealth Wireless Pulse Oximeter, is a quick way to spot-check your blood oxygen saturation).
In addition to typical altitude sickness, low oxygen levels have also been associated with depression in rats, and a recent study conducted at the University of Utah suggests the same could be true of humans (Best). Remembering to breathe, and breathing correctly, has always been associated with mental health, and the benefits of breathing pure oxygen could have even more profound results for those living at high altitude who are struggling with depression. Hopefully, more research on how oxygen can affect depression and suicide rates for cities at higher elevation will be done based on the findings of this oxygen study.
Whether you are living at a high elevation or visiting a higher altitude and are suffering from the lesser effects of altitude (feeling lightheaded, experiencing mental fogginess or sluggishness), you may find that you simply feel better and can help your body perform optimally with pure recreational oxygen. One of the best things about Oxygen Plus recreational oxygen is the fact that it’s extremely portable, so it’s easy to ensure you have enough room in your car, bag or on your person when you want to take a few deep breaths of O+ oxygen.
Even better than beating the symptoms of oxygen deprivation, Oxygen Plus recreational oxygen offers the sensation of being energized as well as the feeling of being at peace. The effects of breathing oxygen varies with usage, person, and activity, but the efficacy of the element of oxygen works in the body to reveal its intended benefits. So whatever you’re up to, Oxygen Plus can be with you to help fully saturate your depleted oxygen levels, so you feel like your best you again.
To learn more about recreational oxygen, reach out to the Oxygen Plus team. We can help you discover just how easy it can be to maintain your mental and physical health while living at, and visiting, a higher elevation.
Fixler, Kevin. ”Colorado doctor: Health effects of living in mountains unknown to medical establishment.”, Sierra Sun. October 12, 2017.https://www.sierrasun.com/news/colorado-doctor-health-effects-of-living-in-mountains-unknown-to-medical-establishment/. Retrieved on December 4, 2017.
Best, Allan. "Thin Air Might Increase Depression in Mountain States.” Live Science. May 12, 2015.https://www.livescience.com/50813-low-oxygen-increase-depression.html. Retrieved on December 4, 2017.