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Abstract Every time we breathe in oxygen to our lungs the oxygen is picked up by the red blood cells that are in the tiny blood vessels within our lungs. Each red blood cell can carry four oxygen molecules which it takes from the lungs to the heart via the blood vessels. As the heart beats it forces these blood cells into the arteries and on a journey around the body to where they’re needed. When they encounter an area with high levels of carbon dioxide, which has been created by the hard work or cellular metabolism of some particular cells, the red blood cells DROP their oxygen molecules to ‘feed’ these cells and picks up the carbon dioxide that they have produced. They then carry the carbon dioxide back to the lungs and we exhale to get rid of it. We then breathe in more oxygen and the whole process starts again. The beneficial effects of carbon dioxide on health were first discovered in France in the 1930s when it was noted that bathing in the pools of carbon dioxide rich water at the Royat Spas helped to speed up wound healing. |