What is EWOT? – Exercise with Oxygen
Background:
As we age, our cells lose the ability to maintain their normal function. Cellular processes to include detoxification, elimination, digestion, reproduction, neurological function, repair mechanisms, hormone production, immune function, all begin to down regulate. At the core of all these “degenerative” changes in the body is a gradual decline in the cells ability to produce energy. Indeed, all cellular functions that occur in the body require energy.
The body uses ATP (adenosine triphosphate) as its major energy source. ATP is the gasoline for your body and it is produced mainly in the mitochondria of the cells which take either sugar (glucose) or fatty acids and combine these with oxygen (O2) to produce carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O), and ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
Each cell contains 2000 to 3000 mitochondria and these are the “power plants” which produce the energy needed for normal cellular function. Under normal conditions, 99% of all oxygen (O2) you breathe in goes to the mitochondria in the cells to make ATP. As noted above, the two basic reactions that occur in the mitochondria to produce energy include:
glucose plus 602 ———> 6O2 plus 6H2O plus 36 ATP
fatty acids plus 2302 ——–> 16CO2 plus 16H2O plus 130 ATP
From 1960 through the mid 1990s, Manfred von Ardenne, a leading researcher in determining the energy dynamics of the body as it relates to the formation of ATP using oxygen, determined that proper ATP formation is the major factor influencing a person’s health throughout life. He also stated that the steady decline in ATP formation, secondary to decreased utilization of oxygen as we age, markedly contributes to the decline in health, the aging process, and disease.
Indeed, the importance of oxygen (O2) in energy production of the body cannot be overestimated. Oxygen has been described as the “giver of life” because it is an essential prerequisite for the formation of ATP. Dr. von Ardenne discovered that oxygen utilization in body tissues may drop as much as 50% as we age, leading to critically reduced oxygen transport to the tissues, critically reduced oxygen utilization of the tissues, and critically increased oxygen requirements of the tissues.
Research found that, as we age, the amount of blood that flows through the capillaries, the smallest blood vessels in the body, diminishes and the cells that make up the inner linings of these vessels start to lose their oxygen supply. The mitochondria in the cells then do not have enough oxygen to make proper amounts of ATP. This causes the cells of those capillaries to swell up, since they cannot maintain proper fluid balance inside the cells and this causes a decreased diameter of the capillaries themselves. The direct result of this process is reduced blood flow to the capillaries, reduced oxygen supply to the tissues, and hereby reduced production of ATP. This causes subsequent down-regulation of the individual cells of the body and decreased health of the individual!
More recent research has also shown a direct correlation between the body’s ability to produce ATP and overall health. An article which appeared in 2000 by Wilson and Tanaka entitled “Meta- Analysis of the Age Associated Decline in Maximal Aerobic Capacity in Men: Relation to Training Status” revealed a direct correlation between a persons health and mitochondrial function. Using a pulmonary gas analyzer, these researchers determined optimal mitochondrial function defined by maximal aerobic capacity (ATP produced using O2 in the mitochondria). They concluded that “maximal aerobic capacity is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, cognitive dysfunction, and all cause mortality”.
Wilson and Tanaka stated that, while most aspects of aging could be trained away such as insulin resistance, body mass composition, bone density, cardiovascular function, etc, there continued to be a significant decline in maximal aerobic capacity (ATP produced using O2 in the mitochondria) in the same men. Other subsequent research articles have verified the findings of Tanaka and Wilson. Thus, it appears that the connection between optimal mitochondrial function, health, and aging is overwhelmingly clear and the primary goal in optimizing health and decelerating aging is to maintain optimal aerobic ATP production in the mitochondria as we age. It is the single most consistent and predictable marker of aging.
From this research, a new theory of aging has been defined called the Energy Deficit Theory of Aging and Disease. The latest findings suggest that mitochondrial down regulation occurs gradually and, if it is diagnosed early enough, it can be reversed or at least slowed down. A condition, designated as Early Onset Mitochondrial Dysfunction (EOMD) refers to a deterioration of mitochondrial function that is commonly found even in young, asymptomatic, and presumably healthy subjects and increases with age. Early Onset Mitochondrial Dysfunction, which is reversible, differs from mitochondrial decay which is permanent.
Diagnosis and Testing:
Our office uses the latest pulmonary gas analyzer technology called Bio-Energy Testing. This is a comfortable test that is performed both at rest and during bicycle exercising which determines how efficiently the body is using oxygen to make ATP. From this testing, we determine:
1) how efficiently the body is producing ATP.
2) resting fatty acid metabolism — how much ATP at rest is produced from fatty
acids. This is a sign of a healthy mitochondrial function.
3) maximal fatty acid metabolism — the maximal amount of ATP that can be
generated from fat during exercise.
4) maximal aerobic energy production– the maximal amount of ATP that can be
generated in the mitochondria during exercise.
5) the anaerobic threshold– the heart rate at which the body produces significant
amounts of lactic acid during exercise.
6) optimal daily caloric needs of the body.
Treatment:
From Bio Energy Testing data, we then formulate an individualized exercise training program utilizing high concentration oxygen (EWOT). This allows us to place patients on an exercise regimen that maximizes fat burning, exercises patients aerobically which prevents lactic acid build up that can damage the cells, and improves cellular metabolism. This regimen has been shown to reduce the swelling in the cells of the capillary walls, thereby improving blood and oxygen delivery to the tissues! The oxygen training program consists of 24 one half hour treatments on a 2 to 3 times a week basis. In addition to oxygen therapy, specific nutrients are given during EWOT training to vasodilate the blood vessels and to facilitate the making of more ATP. This treatment regimen is safe, noninvasive, affordable, and produces measurable results.
The EWOT protocol can truly increase your energy, improve your health and vitality, and prevent or slow down the age-related degenerative changes affecting us all. Exercise with oxygen training significantly increases the oxygenation of the tissues of the body by driving more oxygen into the hemoglobin and blood plasma which then increases the diffusion of oxygen through the capillary walls into the cells. EWOT training helps heal the swelling of the capillary walls themselves, thereby increasing the diameter of the capillaries, allowing more blood cells to travel through the capillaries and thereby supply greater amounts of oxygen to more tissue. Increased oxygen into the cells helps up regulate the mitochondria, producing more ATP for proper functioning of the cells.
EWOT training has been reported to:
1) Dramatically increase oxygenation of the tissues and cells;
2) Help inhibit age-related diseases and chronic fatigue;
3) Help slow down the process of aging;
4) Improve mental and physical stamina;
5) Facilitate weight loss;
6) Stimulate immune function.
We invite you to participate in this state of the art, dynamic, safe, and life
changing treatment!
Call for your consultation today at (916) 780 -2800.