Have you ever been stabbed in the back by someone you thought you knew so well– someone you thought would never hurt you? Well, what if that is happening every day of your life? We all know oxygen is one of the most vital components of our lives, but what if the thing we need the most is killing us day by day? A funny thing, really, the thing we need to live kills us. As a reader, you might be confused about how oxygen kills. Just hear me out. Let’s consider for a second that, what if oxygen is toxic but it just takes 75 to 100 years to kill us?

As we all hopefully know, the body needs oxygen to perform a task known as cellular respiration, which the body needs to be able to create energy. But I am not here to give you a science lesson. I will leave that one to your biology teachers. The bottom line is that we need oxygen to function. However, some scientists believe that over time, oxygen harms your body. When oxygen interacts with your cells, it can cause damage similar to oxidation. In an article by the National Center of Biotechnology, a scientist wrote, “The presence of an unpaired electron results in certain common properties that are shared by most radicals. Many radicals are unstable and highly reactive. They can either donate an electron to or accept an electron from other molecules, therefore behaving as oxidants or reductants.” This quote describes something called free radical cell damage, which is how oxygen oxidizes in cells. Oxygen has 6 electrons but wants to have 8 so it is constantly looking to combine with other substances. It usually ends up combining with hydrogen; most of the time, this works and no problem arises. However, sometimes the cells become an unstable character called a free radical. It will essentially try to pair up with anything it can: fats, membranes, and even DNA. If oxygen does pair with these items, there are very big consequences, the main one being cancer. This is called oxidative stress.

To solidify the consequences of free radicals and oxidative stress, an article by the National Center of Biotechnology wrote, “The most important oxygen-containing free radicals in many disease states are hydroxyl radical, superoxide anion radical, hydrogen peroxide, oxygen singlet, hypochlorite, nitric oxide radical, and peroxynitrite radical. These are highly reactive species, capable in the nucleus, and the membranes of cells of damaging biologically relevant molecules such as DNA, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids. Free radicals attack important macromolecules leading to cell damage and homeostatic disruption.” This quote shows that oxygen can hurt us. This process is essentially our bodies being oxidized from the inside. Which causes our bodies to age. However, there are worse consequences such as proteins being ruptured and cells mutating.

I know I just threw a lot of information at you, so let’s regroup. Oxygen, while trying to gain 8 electrons, may become unstable and bond with fats, membranes, or DNA, which may cause a mutation in the cells (cancer). Quite the oxymoron, isn’t it? The thing we need to survive kills us. Maybe this isn’t a conspiracy after all. Maybe with each breath you take, with every second that you’ve spent reading this article, you are one step closer to death.