Oxygen, hypoxia and hyperoxia

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Thanks. In summary, more UV ages the face (and anywhere else skin was exp) while less oxygen (partial pressure) reduces oxidative stress in the body. At higher altitudes, you age more slowly but look like you age more quickly.

I lived in Colorado for 25 years. The people who lived their entire lives at higher altitude (mile high city) looked eaten up with sun damage. If they had been more careful with hats and sunscreen perhaps they would have avoided looking older than their biological age. On the other hand, these Colorado “natives” I encountered tended to be vigorous and healthy outdoor athletes (frequently hiking, biking, skiing, etc)
with a probable lower biological age.

The question that I have is how much of an impact does that “premature” aged skin have on overall health? I believe it is true that skin health is a reflection of overall health, in general (poor health will lead to unhealthy skin). But does it go both ways? Does extra UV damage reduce overall health (probably to some extent) or just look like poor health (fingers crossed)?

My conclusions are:

(1) wear a hat and sunscreen (but outdoor physical activity is healthful so don’t avoid it).

(2) lower oxidative stress, without moving to high altitude, by getting plenty of cardiovascular exercise to increase the body’s ability to deal with oxidative stress.

What did I miss?

@John_Hemming you posted it a few weeks ago here :wink: Oxygen, hypoxia and hyperoxia - #73 by John_Hemming

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Agree, I’m trying to make fishing hats and bucket hats popular. I’ve always worn farmer hats, which are free but don’t cover ears or back of the neck. If you’re out all day in the summer sun, should cover that. Trying to get the dosage right.

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Yea, I live here now and sunscreen and hats are often missed as I never burn. Face is definitely showing signs of too much sun though.
OTOH I am super fit :slight_smile:

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Now, scientists at Gladstone Institutes have developed a drug that mimics the effects of breathing low oxygen. In mice with Leigh Syndrome—the most common childhood mitochondrial disease—the HypoxyStat drug extended lifespan by more than 3-fold and reversed brain damage and muscle weakness, even when given during late stages of disease.

“It’s not practical for every patient with this disease to move to the mountains,” says Gladstone Investigator Isha Jain, PhD, senior author of the new study, published in Cell. “But this drug could be a controlled and safe way to apply the same benefits to patients.”

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Short bouts of hypoxia improve insulin sensitivity in adults with type 2 diabetes 2025

Hypoxia stimulates glucose uptake independently from the action of insulin. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of intermittent hypoxia, consisting of alternating short bouts of breathing hypoxic and room air, on glucose concentration, insulin concentration, and insulin sensitivity during an oral glucose tolerance test in adults with type 2 diabetes and adults with normal glycemic control. Nine adults with type 2 diabetes (two women, HbA1c: 7.3±1.5%, age: 52±13 years) and nine adults with normal glycemic control (four women, HbA1c: 5.4±0.1%, age: 24±4 years) performed a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test on two separate visits to the laboratory. Following ingestion of the glucose drink, participants were exposed to either an intermittent hypoxia protocol, consisting of eight 4-min hypoxic cycles at a targeted oxygen saturation of 80% interspersed with breathing room air to resaturation, or a sham protocol consisting of eight 4-min normoxic cycles interspersed with breathing room air. Intermittent hypoxia did not attenuate the increase in glucose concentration but attenuated the increase in insulin concentration in response to an oral glucose tolerance test in comparison with the sham protocol in adults with type 2 diabetes. Insulin sensitivity was greater during intermittent hypoxia in comparison with the sham protocol in adults with type 2 diabetes (0.043±0.036 vs. 0.032±0.046 Όmol/kg/min/pmol, p=0.01), but did not change in the control group (0.122±0.015 vs. 0.128±0.008 Όmol/kg/min/pmol, p=0.12). In conclusion, intermittent hypoxia improved insulin sensitivity in adults with type 2 diabetes.

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This would be hard to do just by shallow breathing. I can just stay under 90%
although I could hold it there for a long time if I wasn’t so bored. I currently hold it for 3 minutes following 5x 30 second exhale breath holds with 10 seconds recovery between.

I like this study. I think I’ll extend my shallow breathing a bit. Thanks

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Individualized Algorithm-Based Intermittent Hypoxia Improves Quality of Life in Patients Suffering from Long-Term Sequelae After COVID-19 Infection 2025

Background/Objectives: Post-COVID-19 condition (PCC), also known as long COVID, has emerged as a recognized syndrome affecting millions of people worldwide, significantly impairing their quality of life. Currently, no effective therapeutic options are available to manage this condition. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the long-term effects of personalized, algorithm-based intermittent hypoxia–hyperoxia conditioning (IHHC) on quality of life and pain in patients with PCC.
Methods: This open-label cohort study included 199 PCC patients, aged 11–87 years (female-to-male ratio: 67:33) and experiencing moderate-to-severe fatigue, between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2023. Each patient received an algorithm-based treatment plan tailored to their demographics, symptom duration, and baseline pain (NRS) and quality of life (SF-36) scores. Patients received an average of six treatment sessions (range: 2–21), each consisting of intermittent hypoxic–hyperoxic cycles, with hypoxia (9–13% O2) lasting 3–8 min and hyperoxia (34–36% O2) lasting 1–3 min. The primary outcomes were changes in the NRS and SF-36 scores at the 6-week and 6-month follow-ups.
Results: At the 6-week follow-up after treatment initiation, the SF-36 scores increased by 102 points (p < 0.001, 95% CI: 78.4–127), and this improvement persisted at the 6-month follow-up (Δ106, p < 0.001, 95% CI: 57.0–154). Pain was reduced by 28–32% at both follow-up time points, exceeding the clinically relevant threshold. Health transition scores indicated a patient-perceived improvement in health status.
Conclusions: In this study, a personalized, algorithm-based IHHC alleviated pain and improved quality of life in patients suffering from persistent long-term sequelae after COVID-19 infection. The effects were sustained for up to six months. Further research is warranted to elucidate the mechanisms underlying IHHC’s therapeutic effects in this patient population.

MDPI, no placebo.

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I had a new experience related to hypoxia that I thought it would share. Yesterday I took my 12mg rapa dose while in day 1 of a FMD. This AM i did my regular hypoxia work and discovered that my spo2 would not drop as per usual.

I started at 99% vs a normal 97%

Doing my 5 rounds of 30 second exhale breath holds, my spo2 would not drop at all for the first few rounds and never below 92%. Normally I will drop to 75-85% during this exercise. Subjective air hunger was lower than normal.

Then I did my <90% shallow breathing drill for 3 minutes. Normally it take me between 0-30 seconds to settle into 90 +- 1. Today it took 1 minute to settle into my target and the air hunger was much less than normal.

Any ideas on how rapamycin or FMD is having this effect?

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