I'm sure many times experienced a state of "unsatisfied inspiration" when a feeling of heaviness in the chest forced to experience physical discomfort and wanted to breathe again and again. It is one of more symptoms of respiratory and cardiac insufficiency, for whom treatment is widely used oxygen therapy.
The general effect of oxygen in the body begins after his admission into the blood after inhalation or intravascular injection using specialized tools.
Local therapeutic effect is achieved by introducing oxygen through a needle in its cavity pleura, peritoneum, in the joint, with a probe into the stomach and the intestine (for helminthic infestations).
Quite often used inhaled oxygen, sessions are conducted from 10 to 60 minutes (at intervals of 20 minutes to several hours or continuously, through a special mask, for several days). In severe cases, the oxygen is fed through a nasal catheter.
Oxygen tanks are also a means of oxygen therapy and are often used in an emergency. The use of oxygen tents or tents, with constant maintenance of moisture in them and replace the exhaust air is used mainly for the treatment of children.
Particular care should be applied to neonatal oxygen because it can cause eye damage due to vasospasm and insufficient blood supply to the retina.
Oxygen therapy sessions not only rather long time (15-18 hours per day), but also on the number (for from six months to several years).
Oxygen therapy should only be conducted under the supervision of a physician, as an overdose of oxygen can cause dryness of the mouth, dry cough with a burning sensation behind the breastbone, in more serious cases, atelectasis (areas of decay) in the lungs, mental disorders, convulsive disorders, breach of thermoregulation.
The use of oxygen improves the saturation of the tissues, increases the resistance to hypoxia, improves metabolism and prolong life in many serious diseases of the heart and lungs.