Oxygen Cures Insomnia

I worked in a hyperbaric oxygen center that used several different oxygen therapies. I noticed that elderly patients who simply sat for 15 minutes breathing 60% oxygen every day reported remembering their dreams much more clearly and vividly and possibly having more dreams.

Manfred von Ardenne, a brilliant German researcher, found that combining exercise with breathing supplemental oxygen dramatically improved oxygen delivery to the body for days, weeks, even months after treatment. He observed that exercise caused the capillaries to dilate, allowing the high oxygen levels in the blood to contact the capillary walls, which triggered an improvement in the responsiveness of the capillaries.

Von Ardenne and many German researchers believed that aging and illness were functions of decreased oxygen delivery to the body. With chronic stress, illness or advancing age, the capillaries become permanently constricted rather than dilating and constricting according to the body's varying need for oxygen. Simply breathing oxygen can overcome this chronic deprivation. Combining oxygen with exercise gives prolonged physiologic improvement in oxygen delivery.

I also noticed in the clinic that people with adrenal insufficiency or chronic lung problems like asthma would have an intense reaction to starting oxygen therapy. They would have an immediate extreme boost in energy and sense of well-being, followed 1 or 2 days later by a huge crash of headache and fatigue, to the point they had to stay in bed. It was necessary to strictly limit the initial exposure of susceptible people to tone down this strong response.

I was surprised by this strong connection between blood oxygen levels and adrenal function. It seemed that suddenly receiving oxygen during chronic oxygen deprivation, from asthma, for example, stimulated a huge adrenal surge and crash. Adrenal function must be closely tied to blood oxygen levels.

I recently started using an oxygen concentrator in the evenings to help with my ongoing fight against stage 4 breast cancer. Since starting to work in Integrative Medicine, I've noticed how many integrative treatments are actually oxygen therapies. Hyperbaric oxygen, exercise with oxygen, ozone, vitamin C and hydrogen peroxide all increase oxygen delivery and kill cancers and their underlying infections by increasing oxygen radicals in microorganisms and diseased cells.

When I started breathing 90% oxygen in the evenings with the concentrator, I immediately noticed I slept much more deeply, slept through the night and remembered vivid dreams, which I hadn't experienced since starting chemotherapy 3 years ago. It seems my REM sleep is improved.

How does this work? Stress leads to vasoconstriction and elevated blood pressure. This constriction must reduce oxygen delivery to the adrenal glands, which registers as danger (fight or flight). The adrenals must respond by increasing wakefulness and causing sleep to be more shallow in case of attack. If you alleviate stress, you relax, your blood vessels dilate and your adrenals get the message that "the coast is clear" and your sleep deepens.

If, as von Ardenne believed, our capillaries become permanently constricted with aging and chronic stress, by the time we reach our 40s our adrenals are constantly perceiving danger and keeping us from sleeping like babies.

Supplementing oxygen sends the message that we're out of danger and the adrenals send out the hormonal message that we can sleep deeply again. It's simple but very effective.

Deep sleep is essential for our psychological and physical well-being. My exposure to Traditional Chinese Medicine has shown me that disease, including the infections that turn into cancer, occurs wherever there are blockages to flow in the body, such as pressure from bra straps or chronic hunching over. The decrease in flow must include blood flow, including white blood cells for immune defense and red blood cells to deliver oxygen. White cells need oxygen to create oxygen radicals to fight infection and cancer.

I strongly believe that oxygen supplementation does help reverse the effects of aging and help effectively fight disease. I think we should all be breathing supplemental oxygen, either with exercise or for an hour at bedtime. Breathe oxygen all night if you have sleep apnea or other conditions that greatly limit oxygen intake.