Raw Science

Respiratory Physiology 1: Why Oxygen?

Assume nothing, trust no one, give oxygen.

– Anon

Welcome to Basic Science Clinic Raw Science podcast series. In case you haven’t being paying attention, science is cool. Indulge your inner geek by joining us on our pursuit of developing an integrated scientific understanding from which you can develop a clinical practice informed by deeper insights and inoculation against magical thinking.

We are going to take an unashamedly convoluted journey from atmospheric gas to the mitochondria and back again, to examine respiratory physiology and hopefully frame the information in a format that helps you on your inexorable march to examination success.

Have you ever asked yourself what is all the fuss about oxygen? In the first two podcasts we are going to address why oxygen is the foundational slab of our hierarchy of needs and how it got here in the first place. It might just give you a renewed appreciation of nature’s most vital pharmaceutical.

We would love to hear feedback and we will even take requests from the floor for future subjects. Apologies for any mistakes, we are always happy to learn so corrections are most welcome.

Raw Science Factoids

2 x 10²⁶ molecules of ATP formed daily, or ~160kg from 2500 calories.
At any one time there is 50g of ATP in the body, cells contain ~1 billion ATP molecules, utilize 2 million ATP/s, regenerating ~600 ATP/s.
On average we breath ~400 L O₂/day and at rest consume ~350 L O₂/day.
Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe, and the most abundant by mass in the Earth’s biosphere.
Increased solubility is evidenced by the increased density of life in the polar oceans.