Oxygen bars: Benefits are in the breath of the beholder

ATLANTA - Carlos Ramsey is an oxygen junkie. But he doesn&#39;t like just any air that you can literally find anywhere. <br> <br> The Atlanta art student gets his air from a local oxygen bar, where he pays top dollar to inhale the scented stuff through tubes hooked to his nose. He has done oxygen about a hundred times and said his drug of choice gives him energy and makes him more creative. <br> <br> ``One of the amazing things was how clearly I was able to think,&#39;&#39; said Ramsey, talking about the first time he ever mainlined oxygen. ``It seemed like all the answers were so much easier for me to recall.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> While Ramsey, 19, is raving about oxygen&#39;s effects, doctors say the recreational oxygen user has been duped by a clever marketing scam that has no health benefits. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s no different than putting tap water in a fancy bottle and coming up with a name and saying hey this is a great product,&#39;&#39; said Dr. Mark Melrose, director of emergency services at Beth Israel in New York. <br> <br> But thousands of Americans are flocking to malls, health stores and spas to purchase the tasteless gas. Twelve dollars buys a 15-minute breathing session. An unlimited monthly pass for 30-minute sessions is about $30. <br> <br> ``It is a stress reliever,&#39;&#39; said Katherine Daniels of Hollendale, Fla., a regular oxygen user. ``There are different fragrances lavender helps migraines and stress. The eucalyptus helps clear your sinuses a little bit. Those are my two favorite.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Oxygen bars started in Asia and spread to America in 1996 when the first one opened in Reno, Nev. But it didn&#39;t gain much recognition until 1998 when actor Woody Harrelson opened one in Los Angeles. Now, there are about 100 oxygen bars across the country, in cities including Washington, Atlanta, Miami and Pittsburgh. <br> <br> Users say breathing the 90 to 95 percent pure oxygen helps their headaches, hangovers and allergies along with giving them a burst of energy. They say the gas has skin benefits as well - fighting acne and preventing wrinkles. <br> <br> ``Ten minutes (of breathing oxygen) is definitely beneficial,&#39;&#39; said Matt Sinnett, who owns Oasis Oxygen in Los Angeles. ``If you&#39;re going to spend your 10 minutes doing anything, it should be oxygen.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> But if you ask Dr. Michael Silver a pulmonologist at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke&#39;s Medical Center in Chicago - breathing pure oxygen is like swallowing sugar pills. Both produce a placebo effect. <br> <br> ``When people say they feel better I have no reason to discount that they feel better,&#39;&#39; Silver said. ``But it&#39;s not the oxygen.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> ``Recreational&#39;&#39; oxygen is different from medical oxygen, which is 100 percent pure, compressed in a tank and requires a prescription. A generator purifies the air sold in oxygen bars - sucking in room air and filtering out the pollutants. <br> <br> Silver worries about the prolonged use of recreational oxygen, which he said can damage the lungs. Long-term use is even more harmful to people with severe lung disease, such as emphysema, asthma and bronchitis. <br> <br> But Kristi Huddleston, owner of O2 Cool in Miami, said oxygen users aren&#39;t on the machines long enough for there to be health risks. She said most vendors don&#39;t even offer breathing sessions longer than 30 minutes far short of the 24 hours of continuous use doctors say is harmful. <br> <br> Adding to Silver&#39;s concerns is the fact that the oxygen bar industry is unregulated with no standard guidelines. For example, Sinnett has a ``notify your physician&#39;&#39; sign. Huddleston makes clients sign a waiver. And Jill Marsh, owner of Pure in Atlanta, tells customers up front that it is for recreational purposes only. <br> <br> ``I&#39;d love to see the industry totally regulated by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration),&#39;&#39; Sinnett said. ``Now, I have folks running around jeopardizing my industry because it&#39;s not regulated.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Sinnett said he has hooked up thousands of people and the only side effects have been smiles and good testimonies. He has two personal oxygen units in his home and said the benefits of regular use are long lasting. <br> <br> ``You even know when you wake up in the morning,&#39;&#39; Sinnett said. ``Tasks become easier because you have mental patience this cognition level you didn&#39;t have before.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> So while most doctors are calling oxygen bars bogus, business is booming for their owners. Huddleston is averaging about 300 customers a week. Marsh is trying to become franchised. <br> <br> And Sinnett is already thinking about his next venture: oxygen bars in airports and airplanes. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s not combustible,&#39;&#39; he said. ``It&#39;s not pressurized. I&#39;d love to see it on a plane.&#39;&#39;