Drinking a few drops of a commercial preparation called "vitamin O," which consists of oxygen and sodium chloride dissolved in water, is claimed to increase the concentration of oxygen in the body. (a) Use your knowledge of oxygen transport to evaluate this claim. (b) Would vitamin O be more or less eff ective if it were infused directly into the bloodstream?

Question

Biology

Olive Powers

12 October, 08:22

Drinking a few drops of a commercial preparation called "vitamin O," which consists of oxygen and sodium chloride dissolved in water, is claimed to increase the concentration of oxygen in the body. (a) Use your knowledge of oxygen transport to evaluate this claim. (b) Would vitamin O be more or less eff ective if it were infused directly into the bloodstream?

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Answers (1)

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Scott Baldwin · Answer 1

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Explanation:

STEP 1:

We know already that the capacity to absorb oxygen of the body is not limited by the amount of oxygen available, but by the ability of hemoglobin to bind and transport O2 so Itamin O is useless. There is no an efficient way of extracting oxygen when we talk to GI tract but we know that is transport to our lungs without problems.

STEP 2:

It is required a dedicated O2 binding protein (hemoglobin) indicates that dissolved oxygen by itslef cannot attain the high concentration required. The use of some Vitamin O would make a difference in the amount of oxygen already present in the blood.