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Great reply's to a provocative article. Its reports like these taken out of context that provide inane arguments from reimbursement decision makers and scare off those who would potentially benefit from Oxygen to treat a cluster attack. I have attached the original article which is "Hyperoxic Brain Effects Are Normalized by Addition of CO2". The OP placed a link from a PR arm of UCLA (self promotion) to bring our attention and concern. The PR department took great liberties with the content going so far as to state the info in being incorporated tin Europe to modify resuscitation. In reality the article has only been referenced 10 times (since 2007) in other literature, mostly basic science and peripheral to O2 harm. Please read the editor notes at the end of the article. Basically there is no follow up and no real concern with O2 as it applies to safety and treating a cluster attack. O2 clearly works much of the time, its not perfect and there a are a few variables that must be managed but properly delivered and used multiple studies support its efficacy and safety. It is interesting to see the study does confirm O2 affects hypothalamic activity which supports theories where clusters are propagated. It also gives support to the notion of vasoconstriction being a mechanism of action. I suspicion a change in hormonal milieu may also play a role and be an explanation for inconsistent response to therapy. oxygenandharm

Bah Humbug! It will not allow me to cut and paste into this reply! So, starting over, for the third time now!! Welcome to the board John!!! Sorry you have to be here, but very happy that you found us. CHF got a reply in while I was fighting the system, so I will truncate mine a bit. Todays' COPD patients mostly use a cannula, not a mask. So, they are getting an O2 boost, but not breathing pure O2. These are children. And they are talking about staying on the O2 for long periods of time. In the 60's/70's they could not acquire enough ultra pure O2 for premature infants and had to use the lower purity one. Imagine their shock when they found that they now had babies that were no longer being blinded by the O2 they were given in the hospital for weeks or months! Prior to that incident, preemies went blind. Babies and children respond differently than adults do with many things. Second, if you are concerned, then do some pre-breathing on your way to the O2. Inhale deep, hold, then exhale hard and fully, just like you should on your tank. Grab some caffeine on the way and slam that down. This will reduce the time needed on the tank most likely. Their MRI showed that it affected the hypothalamus. That is what is wrong with us according to current theory, so a good kick in the butt is what it needs apparently. O2 works!! Plain and simple. What are you doing for your head now? Some background would be helpful. Do you have O2 to abort your hits?

Thanks, John'. I'm now "familiar" with it, from having read the study itself, which is here -- https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040173 -- and also from glancing through some articles that cite it. I certainly have nothing definitive to say, except to suggest the following: 1. The study was done in 2007. You would think it would have been compelling enough to inspire significant follow-up and maybe an actual change in O2 delivery procedures for healthy adults, but I don't see that having happened (though I might not have looked in the right places). (I say "healthy adults" because there seem to be studies related to O2/CO2 for patients receiving anesthesia, and for children, and other special cases. The adverse effects of pure O2 on premature babies have been pretty well studied and accounted for in practice, as far as I can tell.) 2. If it didn't inspire follow-up or change, maybe it's because practitioners who have seen pure O2 administered to countless people have not noticed the adverse-sounding effects that the authors describe, or any practical consequences from those effects (just guessing). 3. This study was done on children. It is hypothesized within the study, but not shown, that it will also apply to healthy adults. I can see a couple of articles that might be addressing that, but I can't access them to find out. Of course, if you consider people with COPD to be outside the category of "healthy adults," I guess there aren't that many people aside from people with CH who regularly inhale pure O2 (high-flying military pilots??). 4. Specifically regarding CH: I don't think it is known exactly how O2 aborts CH, but one assumed factor is vasoconstriction. I gather from reading this article that the vasoconstriction is caused (at least in part) by lack of CO2. So could it be that the "negative" vasoconstriction side effect of pure O2 is actually a positive one for treating CH? They also mention effects on the hypothalamus, which is considered a crucial brain area in relationship to CH. Could it be that this hypothalamic reaction is also part of the treatment??????