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Deep-sea diving gas beats asthma attacks Good Health
From:
Daily Mail
| Date:
September 21, 2004| Author:
| Copyright 2004 Daily Mail. Provided by ProQuest LLC.Copyright information
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A GAS used by deep-sea divers could help to treat severe asthma
attacks. Tests showed the gas boosts lung function and speeds up
recovery within an hour of being given.
French scientists who trialled the diving gas predict it could be
a new emergency treatment for asthma sufferers who turn up at
hospital in the throes of an attack.
The therapy works because it contains a mixture of oxygen and
helium. Normal air is made up of 20 per cent oxygen and nearly 80 per
cent nitrogen.
Because helium is much lighter than nitrogen, asthma sufferers
find it much easier to inhale into lungs that have ...
