Yaaaawn! Blame it on oxygen dip

BANGALORE: Don''t feel like going to work? Not to fret. Boss caught you yawning? Not to worry. Found yourself yawning a hundred thousand times in five minutes? Don''t blame the person talking to you. It''s just your cells complaining of oxygen depletion.
Doctors have found that 90 per cent of young professionals in the age group of 20 to 35 have been caught in a ''yawning gap''.They always feel listless. There is a distinct reluctance to go to office and face the day, and it has nothing to do with burn-out or boredom.
The reason: free oxygen levels in their cells have dropped so much that this ''lazy'' symptom results in yawning.
"A lack of free oxygen leads to accumulation of acid in the brain cells. When the cells are unable to rid themselves of the toxins, or absorb oxygen from the bloodstream, these symptoms show up," Multi-disciplinary Medical and Research Group director Dr Ratna Alva said.
The solution until now was detoxification — to breathe deep early in the mornings for some unpolluted air. But urban settings have taken away this solution too, since the atmosphere doesn''t contain enough oxygen to help working youngsters. "Ozone levels in the atmosphere are continuously dropping. The only long-term solution for the chronic problem of yawning and lack of drive is oxygen therapy," Dr Alva added.
"A lack of oxygen also means the heart is not beating fast enough. Cardiac exercise sessions are important as the body is forced to grab oxygen from the atmosphere. But how much this will help depends on individual responses," aerobics instructor Santosh Kumar said. Which means that everyone may need to undergo therapy through oxy-generators available in clinics.
First, check if you have the right oxygen levels in your body. Hospitals offer the facility of body oxygen concentration checking through gas analysis in pulmonary laboratories. An easier way is the oximeter, a device which shows ''partial oxygen concentration'' (PO2) or the oxygen reading in the body.
The Oxyzen Oxygen Bar in Malleswaram offers pure oxygen with aromatherapy. Pure oxygen increases stamina, removes stress and fatigue from pollution and rejuvenates the person.
"The red blood corpuscles should ideally be saturated with 98 per cent oxygen. Oxygen therapy gives people 88 to 92 per cent pure oxygen in their RBCs,� Oxyzen managing director Dr Kiran Patel said.
So now, either you visit the bar for a quick draught, or just get up early enough — between 5.30 and 6.30 am — for a deep dose of O2.