Oxygen is an indispensable gas for all living things. No matter plants or animals can live without oxygen. But helium is the new generation of noble gas, the content is small, mining difficult, but widely used in demand, so often "difficult to find a helium". Helium and oxygen can mix, right? How do helium and oxygen coexist?

What do helium and oxygen have in common? In fact, helium and oxygen first appeared together, which was suitable for deep-sea diving operations. At that time, helium and oxygen mixture was used to reduce and prevent the occurrence of decompression sickness and diving disease. But it was later discovered that the helium-oxygen mixture could also be used to improve gas exchange, so the role of helium and oxygen, which modern medicine relies on, became more and more important.

Why are helium and oxygen used in diving and medicine? A nonflammable, colorless, odorless, inert gas at room temperature and pressure that is extremely difficult to liquefy. Liquid helium, however, is one of the most effective refrigerants. Due to its very low density, helium flows 2.68 times faster than air under the same conditions. According to this physical property, helium can effectively reduce respiratory resistance and reduce breathing difficulties. And oxygen goes without saying, oxygen is the essential condition of cellular respiration, high pressure oxygen can also treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. It is because of these properties that helium and oxygen are widely used in medicine.

Of course, helium and oxygen have other biochemical mechanisms of action. In the past, people simply regarded helium as an inert gas. However, through the later research, people found that the helium and oxygen mixture has a certain effect on the prevention of myocardial and cerebral ischemia. Medical scientists have found that a mixture of helium and oxygen improves breathing, increases alveoli and reduces inflammation. According to these characteristics, helium and oxygen are playing an increasingly important role in clinical medicine. In addition, the use of a helium-oxygen mixture as a gas-driven inhalant to treat chronic lung disease is also common.

Although oxygen is the substance that human body cannot leave, but too much oxygen can cause oxygen poisoning. More than 60 meters deep in the sea I only if the diver only breathe oxygen gas will lead to oxygen poisoning, instantly take away the life of diving. To avoid this, helium is mixed with oxygen, which is less narcotic, less dense and easier to compress. Trained professionals can carry a helium-oxygen mixture to depths of more than 100 megabytes and adjust the ratio of helium to oxygen in a cylinder to the depth. Helium diving is one of the most fashionable sports around the world!