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All living cells require oxygen to metabolize (eat) glucose (sugar) in order to generate the energy the cells require to live. Inside the cell, a chemical reaction oxidizes glucose (combines glucose with oxygen) to produce water, carbon dioxide, and adenosine triphosphate (ATP). It is the ATP itself that provides the energy in the form the cell needs to carry out the functions that sustain its life.

Without oxygen, the call cannot create ATP, and without ATP, the cell starves and dies. When too many critical cells (heart, lung) die from oxygen starvation, then you die too.

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15y ago

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