Health Wanted: "Gas Station Drugs" One Year Later

The Episode

A lot can happen in a year: new beginnings, sad endings, a patchwork of controlled substance legislation that varies from state to state and may or may not be influenced by underhanded payments to remove competitors from the market, the changing color of the leaves. This week on Health Wanted, we’re doing a one-year check in on the status of 7-hydroxymitragynine, which some claimed could be the next opioid epidemic.

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The Listener Questions

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How often should I actually be washing my water bottle? Is it just gross or can it actually make me sick?

You should be washing your water bottle every day. 

There was a study that tested 90 reusable water bottles and found that 60% contained more bacteria than what the Environmental Protection Agency considers to be indicative of a water quality problem. Which means that your emotional support water bottle is likely brimming with bacteria.

Some of this bacteria comes from the water itself, but most of the contamination is actually introduced by the drinker. Bacteria is everywhere, so anywhere your water bottle goes, some bacteria gets carried along on the outside of the bottle. Plus, there’s the issue of backwash, which introduces bacteria from your mouth into your water every time you drink. And putting anything besides water in your water bottle results in significantly higher levels of contamination. 

Just like bacteria, mold also thrives in moist environments, and all that bacteria can provide nutrients for mold to grow. This is particularly true for water bottles with removable parts like a lid or straw. So, it’s recommended to break each part of your water bottle down into its separate pieces once a week and wash them to avoid mold growth.

Most bacteria and molds are not harmful, so the question of whether or not your water bottle can make you sick is a bit harder to answer. In the previously mentioned study, they found that 23% of water bottles contained amounts of a bacteria called coliform that exceeded national regulations for drinking water. And coliform is used as an indicator of fecal contamination in drinking water. 

It's worth noting that there are no examples of severe illness that have been traced back to reusable water bottles. Humans have a pretty powerful immune system, and given that most people don't drink enough water to begin with, your reusable water bottle is likely to do you far more good than harm.

What are the actual, evidence-informed benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy?

For anyone unfamiliar, the air we breathe tends to be around 21% oxygen. The rest is a mix of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, argon, and a few little bits of other gases. And this is part of the balance of nature: Too much oxygen would make everything more flammable. 

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) uses a chamber that is filled with 100% oxygen at two to 2.5 times the atmospheric pressure to force a higher concentration of oxygen into your lungs and therefore into your blood, which moves through the body. Oxygen-rich blood can help speed up wound healing, because wounds need oxygen to regenerate tissues properly and prevent infection by keeping tissues healthy and resilient in the face of bacteria. 

Currently, the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, which is the leading international authority on hyperbaric medicine, has accepted the use of HBOT for the treatment of 14 different conditions, each of which are supported by a substantial body of in vitro and in vivo pre-clinical research data as well as extensive positive clinical study data. Most of these uses can be grouped by three main effects: accelerating wound healing and enhancing the growth of new blood vessels, exerting antimicrobial activity, and responding to medical emergencies.

There is no “one size fits all” approach to HBOT. Most disorders require a series of treatments delivered daily for several weeks, and additional factors like comorbid conditions may influence how the body responds to treatment, which is why it’s only recommended to receive HBOT if your physician prescribes it. Plus, the pressure HBOT treatments are delivered at is what draws the line between “wellness” uses and “medical" uses. Scientifically supported HBOT treatments are usually delivered at pressures between 1.9 to three times the atmospheric pressure. On the other hand, HBOT delivered in minimally elevated chamber pressures, pressures lower than 1.5 the atmospheric pressure, is unproven.

A lot of these mild HBOT chambers administer gas mixes well below 95% oxygen and deliver them through breathing devices such as masks, which don’t provide a tight seal and allow the gas to mix with the chamber air, further reducing the oxygen concentration. These mild HBOT treatments have become more widely available outside of medical settings because they are not physician prescribed or supervised, offering HBOT for a spectrum of medical conditions, including those for which there is no scientific proof to support its use. 

So basically, yes, there is some solid science to support HBOT as an effective treatment for certain conditions, but not all conditions that are advertised have evidence to support them. Remember that the data we do have on HBOT is based on research done in clinical settings. So if HBOT is the route you want to go, make sure you receive treatment at an accredited hyperbaric treatment facility by a physician with appropriate training in hyperbaric medicine. 

Catch all the listener questions and Laurel’s answers on the full episode of Health Wanted by:

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