Oxygen

Oxygen is an element displayed by the symbol O, and atomic number 8. It is an essential element for human survival. Decreased oxygen levels may be treated with medical oxygen therapy. Treatment with oxygen serves to increase blood oxygen levels and also exerts a secondary effect of decreasing blood flow resistance in the diseased lung, leading to decreased cardiovascular workload in an attempt to oxygenate the lungs. Oxygen therapy is used to treat emphysema, pneumonia, some heart disorders (congestive heart failure), some disorders that cause increased pulmonary artery pressure, and any disease that impairs the body's ability to take up and use gaseous oxygen. Higher level of oxygen than ambient air (hyperoxia) can be introduced under normobaric or hyperbaric conditions.

Oxygen therapy in clinical settings is used across diverse specialties, including various types of anoxia, hypoxia or dyspnea and any other disease states and conditions that reduce the efficiency of gas exchange and oxygen consumption such as respiratory illnesses, trauma, poisonings and drug overdoses. Oxygen therapy tries to achieve hyperoxia to reduce the extent of hypoxia-induced tissue damage and malfunction.