Are the current atmosphere gaseous composition and unlimited oxygen consumption mode optimal for the health and longevity? Food and oxygen are the two tightly related substances critical for the life support. Recommendations to restrict food consumption below the ad libitum level are recognized and have many followers worldwide. No analogous suggestions concerning the O 2 consumption are known. Living beings originated and most part of their evolution occurred in atmospheres with extraordinarily high CO 2 and low O 2 . In contrast, O 2 content in the modern atmosphere is exceeding CO 2 more than 500 fold. Such dramatic changes should provoke conflicting situations. According to the proposed 'nostalgia' concept, living systems somehow 'remember' and are striving to return to the less conflicting primordial environments. Maintenance of Drosophila in hypoxic atmospheres (5, 10 and 15 % of O 2 ) started from the 20 day extended their mean but not maximum life span. Optimal hypoxia was lower for the older flies (15 % O 2 started from the 40 days and 18 % for the 50 days). Data accumulated do not exclude that modified atmospheres and diets could have additive positive effects on longevity. People in the developed countries are already living in artificial atmospheres with optimized physical parameters-the air is conditioned, filtered, ozonized, ionized, humidified, deodorized etc. However, the same air composition could hardly be optimal for everyone and in all situations. Supplementation of the air conditioners with additional gadgets could ensure optimization of the atmosphere gaseous composition, as well. Despite the importance and technical availability, little is known about efficiency of the individually and situationally optimized atmospheres in human aging and longevity.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.