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August 3rd, 2010
A landmark study provided by the Ohio State University in Columbus has just been published in the Journal of Cancer Biology & Therapy and the results are consistent with the latest research validating the use of HBOT in Cancer therapy. It has already been well established that solid tumours are low in oxygen (hypoxic) and it is this factor that limits conventional therapy like chemo and radiation, and allows for resistance to congenital treatments. In this study, the addition of HBOT (90 minute sessions daily for up to 21 days at a dose of 2.0 ATA)corrected the hypoxic tumour and leading to enhancement of chemotherapeutic regimen for ovarian cancer. In addition and of extreme significance is that the application of HBOT alone caused a significant reduction in tumour size. This study confirms recent literature supporting the use of HBOT with and without conventional therapy.
To View Full study << click here >>
Posted in Cancer, News | Comments Off
August 3rd, 2010
In an eight week study performed on rats, hyperbaric oxygen therapy effectively improved blood pressure parameters and repressed hypertension. Though this phenomenon has been observed in clinical practice, this is the first study of its kind to demonstrate the not only the link between the two, but also the possible mechanisms that may be playing the key roles.
To View Full study << click here >>
Posted in News, heart Disease/ heart attack/Cardiovascular | Comments Off
August 3rd, 2010
The Journal of Orthopaedic Research just published on article demonstrating the beneficial effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on human degenerated intervertebral disks. During the course of the study, the researchers were able to evaluate physiological changes associated with regeneration of tissue, thus proposing various methods of action.
To View Full study << click here >>
Posted in News, Pain/Inflammation/arthritis, Sports Injuries | Comments Off
August 3rd, 2010
The University of South Florida has just shown us that the application of HBOT caused significant pain relief in just 20 treatments. In addition, range of motion was also significantly improved; the difference being that 20 to 30 sessions were needed to obtain this positive response. This study was a double-blind randomized, controlled, prospective study and the positive results were confirmed by MRI reports. More importantly, the 7 year follow up revealed that all patients remained substantially pain and none required hip arthroplasty.
To View Full study << click here >>
Posted in Infections, News, Pain/Inflammation/arthritis, Surgery/Cosmetic Surgery | Comments Off
August 3rd, 2010
More research is demonstrating the importance of combining hyperbaric oxygen therapy with conventional drug therapy for cancer for sensitizing the cancer cells, ultimately leading to more cancer death. Here, this study showed us that just elevating the pressure and combining a promising anticancer agent caused more destruction to the cancer cells.
To View Full study << click here >>
Posted in Cancer, News | Comments Off
August 3rd, 2010
It is well researched that diabetics can benefit from hyperbaric oxygen therapy as a primary treatment for foot wounds, ulcers, and other hard to heal injuries. However, the major complication to diabetics is in cardiovascular disease and coronary events (CE) like sudden heart attacks, strokes, etc. The main contributing factors to this elevated risk are poor glycemic control, elevated inflammatory markers and atherosclerosis. In this study, they monitored these factors in diabetics being treated with HBOT for diabetic foot wounds. With no surprise, all parameters including fasting blood sugar, haemoglobin H1C, CRP, and lipid profiles were statistically significantly improved. The researchers concluded that the application of HBOT caused better glycemic control and had beneficial effects on atherosclerosis. With this, HBOT may be the answer in reducing risk of CE’s and therefore reducing both debilities and mortalities that are commonly observed in the diabetic population.
To View Full study << click here >>
Posted in News, diabetes, heart Disease/ heart attack/Cardiovascular | Comments Off
April 16th, 2010
We have just launched our new www.hyperbaricexperts.com website. Feel free to take a look at our new presence and feel free to comment.
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April 23rd, 2010
Two US Soldiers in Iraq treated successfully for Concussion Symptoms with Hyperbaric Oxygenation Therapy
The UHMS, the primary source of scientific information for hyperbaric medicine, just released a case report on the successful use of HBOT on two US Soldiers in Iraq. Both soldiers were involved in a roadside blast, leaving them with concussive symptoms and both medically diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury. 6 months following their injuries, symptoms of irritability, sleep disturbances, headaches, memory difficulties and cognitive difficulties still persisted. In addition, neurological assessments confirmed deterioration in all measured areas (simple reaction time, procedural reaction time, code substitution learning, code substitution delayed, mathematical processing, and matching to sample).
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy was administered to both soldiers and the results were very impressive with rapid improvement of headaches and sleep disturbances, improvement in all symptoms and resolution of most symptoms. Of clinical significance, repeated neurological testing 3 months after HBOT was implemented, showed improvements in all areas; thus confirming the subjective improvements that were documented. Head injuries and concussions are increasing challenge to our current healthcare system and are having a big effect in the quality of life of so many. The simple application of HBOT may be the long term answer that we have been looking for.
Anyone who is suffering from concussion symptoms, or head injuries (TBI’s) of any kind in that matter, should seriously consider adding hyperbaric oxygen therapy. CALL NOW AND ASK ABOUT OUR CONCUSSION PROTOCOL, SPECIFIC TO YOUR CONDITION.
<<view article
Posted in Brain & Head Injuries/Concussions/TBI, News | Comments Off
May 7th, 2010
A Study done at the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery in Castle Hill Hospital in the UK has just been released and the results are extremely encouraging. The researchers noticed that when HBOT was applied before coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), the surgery went much better. Bypass surgery is the most common type of open heart surgery in North America. For those individuals with severe blockages in the arteries of their heart, CABG can be life-saving, particularly from sudden heart attacks. As good as it sounds; bypass surgery does have its risks and can cause major complications including infections and sometimes even death itself. Normally, following bypass, the patient is monitored in the hospital for around one week, with one or two of those days being in intensive care. It’s during this time that the benefits of HBOT are noticed. With the addition of HBOT, the heart muscle had greater strength and was able to pump stronger following the surgery. More importantly, the post-op complications were greatly reduced allowing for a much shorter hospital stay. This can be of particular interest due to the high costs associated with extended hospital stay, particularly in the intensive care.
Click her to see this study in full. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20129356
Anyone who is considering bypass surgery, or surgery of any kind in that matter, should seriously consider adding hyperbaric oxygen therapy, not only to enhance the surgical procedure, but also to reduce any complications.
CALL NOW AND ASK ABOUT OUR PRE AND POST HBOT PROTOCOL SPECIFIC TO YOUR CONDITION.
Posted in heart Disease/ heart attack/Cardiovascular | Comments Off
May 8th, 2010
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Improves Spinal Cord Injury
March 24th 2010
A study just released on March 24th 2010 in the Journal of Neurosurgery has clearly demonstrated the importance of supplemental HBOT following spinal cord injury. In this study, spinal cord injuries were induced in rats and HBOT was applied to the one group of rats. In this controlled setting, the researchers were able to observe that rats had less severe spinal cord injuries when treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. More importantly, researchers found that this group had an increase in key growth factors that may lead us to a better understanding of the mechanism of action for the results seen with the application of hyperbaric oxygen following spinal cord injuries.
Click here to see the study:
Anyone who has had a spinal cord injury, or of the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM of any kind, in that matter, should seriously consider adding HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY, in order to recover to the fullest.
CALL NOW AND ASK ABOUT OUR RECOVERY PROTOCOL SPECIFIC TO YOUR CONDITION.
Posted in News, Spinal Cord Injuries | Comments Off
May 8th, 2010
Hyperbaric therapy new to Portland
Jan. 22, 2010; Ken Christian, Information Center Content Manager
(NEWS CENTER) — Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been used for years to treat certain wounds that just won’t heal. But until November 2009, there were no hypberbaric oxygen machines in reater Portland. That has now changed. Peter Blanchette spends two hours a day, five days a week inside a bubble, with nothing to do but watch TV or sleep .He’s not complaining because just by lying there, he’s treating an almost 4-year old foot wound that, until now, wouldn’t heal. While Blanchette lies there, the hyperbaric oxygen therapy tank does all the work. Technicians increase pressure in the tank, which is full of oxygen. The higher the pressure, the more oxygen is absorbed in blanchette’s blood. And that oxygen works as a healing agent for his wound. In just one week of treatment, Blanchette and his doctors can tell his foot’s getting better. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy isn’t new, but it is new to Portland. Because the types of patients who generally could benefit from this kind of treatment, like diabetics and those with chronic bone infections, often have trouble traveling long distances, the machines at Mercy Hospital have been getting a workout ever since they started being used in early November. The waiting list for treatment extends into March, even though patients have to commit to treatment 2 hours a day, 5 days a week for up to 3 months. Blanchette says the chamber is very comfortable, so he just takes it as an opportunity to relax. Blanchette died from an unrelated ailment shortly after we shot this story. We are running it with permission from his family. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been available for years in Bangor, Lewiston and Wells. Those hospitals also are experiencing high demand for the machines.
Posted in Cutting-Edge Hospitals/Wound Centers | Comments Off
May 9th, 2010
Budget Impact of Treating Brain Injured Homeless Veterans with Hyperbaric Oxygen
March 3, 2010 (MMD Newswire)
It is now possible to successfully treat brain injured veterans and restore them as productive citizens at a fraction of the cost of the social services they would otherwise require.
1) There are currently 154,000 homeless veterans across the nation. California can be expected to have at least 10% of that number.
2) It is well established that 70-82% of all homeless persons are suffering from a brain injury. Among homeless combat veterans exposed to blasts, that number is nearly 100%.
3) There is an FDA-approved medical treatment that is the only non-hormonal treatment known to repair and regenerate human tissue. The drug is oxygen. When delivered at 7 to 12 times the normal atmospheric concentration in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, it becomes an effective means of healing damaged brain tissue that will otherwise not heal. Of the 25+ brain-injured veterans treated in this manner to date, 80% have been able to return to active duty, work or school. All have been able to return to the basic activities of independent daily living, thus greatly reducing the cost of the maintenance and assistance they required pre-treatment.
4) Study participants have also experienced, on average, a 15 point IQ jump, a 37% reduction in post-concussion syndrome symptoms, and a 28% reduction in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms.
5) The use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for the treatment of brain injury is very safe and is NOT new. The navies of the world have been using it to treat neurologic decompression sickness since the 1930s. What is new is the understanding that HBOT can also be used to successfully treat other forms of brain injury.
6) Current Federal budget expenditures from the stimulus package aimed at the homelessness situation are $2 billion from the Veterans Administration, $1 billion from Housing and Urban Development for Emergency Housing, and $1 billion from HUD for “Homelessness Prevention.” The $2 billion in VA money authorizes “medical treatment” as a component of the homeless abatement program for the first time in history.
7) In addition to the above programmatic costs, each unemployed homeless veteran is not earning an income. The average lifetime income of an uninjured veteran is estimated to be $3 million, or $75,000 per year based on a 40 year career. Loss of that income results in an average loss of Federal tax revenue of about $19,000 per year (at 25%), with a corresponding revenue loss to state & local governments that varies based on the local income and sales tax rates. For California, the estimated revenue loss is estimated at $3,683 per year based on state income and sales taxes ONLY. The state is likely to end up absorbing about half the estimated $19,481 per year cost of caring for a homeless veteran estimated in the current stimulus, plus the added costs of any veterans that get incarcerated (current reports are the about 10% of county inmates are veterans from the current wars).
The cost of repairing a brain injured veteran with 80 treatments under the National Brain Injury Rescue & Rehabilitation Project (NBIRR) protocol is $20,000 in the State of California. Other related services, etc. from the CDVA and other state agencies (lodging, re-integration support, etc.) are estimated at $5,000 per veteran.
9) On the basis of recovery of lost revenue and avoided social services costs only, the time required for the CA government to recover the estimated cost of treatment and related services is about 28 months based on an 80% success rate (experienced in currently published NBIRR team HBOT 1.5 studies). When the avoided correctional system costs, avoided costs of family break-ups, and associated safety net programs, etc. are included, the time gets significantly shorter. Further, at least half of the funds the state would be spending for this therapy are stimulus funds from the Federal government. Therefore, the revenue recovery time to the state is effectively under 14 months.
10) The potential economic benefits to the State of California from this very safe treatment are substantial. A proposal for a large, multi-center program to establish the effectiveness of this therapy and leave the CDVA with substantial long-term treatment capacity has already been submitted in preliminary form to the CDVA. If needed, a smaller 30 patient pilot trial to confirm the above claims should be completeable in less than 6 months, with the trends clear within 60 to 90 days. California has stimulus funds earmarked for homeless abatement available sufficient to fund the above mentioned efforts. What is needed is the political consensus to do so.
11) This is an opportunity to improve that state’s financial condition and simultaneously stake out a position of national leadership in an issue that is of great importance nationwide.
K. P. Stoller, MD, FACHM
Medical Director, San Francisco Institute for Hyperbaric Medicine
Posted in Brain Injured Soldiers/Veterens, News | Comments Off
May 9th, 2010
Study to look at ways to treat TBI
March 17, 2010 - Jeff Stoffer the American Legion
Dr. Paul Harch, a Louisiana State University researcher who is leading a study on use of hyperbaric oxygen treatment for traumatic brain injury. On March 15, Jacob Gadd, assistant director for Program Management in The American Legion Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Division, participated in a conference call on hyperbaric oxygen treatment of traumatic brain injury. The International Hyperbaric Medical Foundation conducted the conference calls with Dr. Paul Harch, a Louisiana State University researcher leading the study, and Dr. James Wright, a retired Air Force colonel in charge of research on hyperbarics for the Air Force.Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are often referred to as the “signature wounds” of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Doctors used hyperbaric oxygen treatment decades ago mainly for treatment of divers. However, Harch’s recent study of 15 cases of veterans afflicted with blast injuries found, “a 15-point increase in IQ in little more than a month, 51 percent reduction in depression, 40 percent clinically significant improvement levels of post-concussion systems such as headaches and sleep disturbances, and a 30 percent improvement in PTSD. The Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis also conducted a relative study, Hyperbaric Oxygen Shows Potential Benefit for Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury, in January. The study found a significant benefit from hyperbaric oxygen treatment to improve brain metabolism and its ability to recover from injury. The findings were recently published in the Journal of Neurosurgery. Additionally, the study showed that cells need oxygen to fuel metabolism for cellular growth and repair. After a traumatic brain injury, there’s a direct correlation between clinical outcome and the degree to which a brain’s metabolism is restored. Dr. Gaylan Rockswold, who conducted the study stated, “in previous research we learned that the brain’s energy is improved and maintained with hyperbaric oxygen treatment, but this study confirms that hyperbaric oxygen treatment has a major impact in terms of increased energy production.” The International Hyperbaric Medical Foundation launched their new nationwide study this week at 15 sites within Florida, California, Louisana, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Virginia, Maryland, Washington and South Carolina. They are asking for 1,000 individuals to participate in the study. To participate in the study or receive more information, go to http://www.hyperbaricmedicalfoundation.org/. The American Legion does not have an official position on hyperbaric oxygen treatment for treatment of TBI and PTSD at this time. However, the Legion will continue to monitor the research and study by Harch’s team and continue to urge VA and DoD to fully explore options for research and treatment for the signature wounds of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Posted in Brain & Head Injuries/Concussions/TBI, Brain Injured Soldiers/Veterens, News | Comments Off
May 9th, 2010
Hyperbaric treatment: Oxygen speeds healing for diabetics with wounds, it can avert amputations
March 23, 2010
By Gina Morton; the Daily Item
LEWISBURG — James Hendricks relaxed under the covers watching Walker Texas Ranger on TV, but the atmosphere in this tube-shaped lounge was 100 percent oxygen. “Time goes pretty fast watching TV,” the 72-year-old Milton resident said of his 90-minute session before entering the hyberbaric oxygen chamber at Evangelical Community Hospital. “It seems like a long period of time but it goes pretty fast.” Hendricks has been receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy for wound care since late January. He had four toes amputated and, because he’s diabetic, the healing process has been taking much longer. But the oxygen treatment — 90 minutes a day, five days a week — is speeding up the process. “The patient gets infused with 100 percent pressurized oxygen,” said Donna Ross, program director. “It helps stimulate blood flow, helps promote the growth of new capillaries and helps a problem wound break the cycle of the wound not healing.” Many of the patients who receive hyperbaric oxygen care — which became available in December — are diabetic with wounds, or also patients with injuries from radiation. Average sessions are 90 minutes in length, five days a week. A total of 30 sessions is normal. The hyperbaric chambers can also treat the following wounds: diabetic, venous stasis, skin grafts and flaps, crush/trauma/ burns, arterial/ischemic, pressure ulcers, soft tissue radionecrosis, chronic refractory osteomyelitis, non-healing wounds, vascular, osteoradionecrosis and surgical wounds. Many patients sleep, watch TV or bring DVDs while they’re inside the chamber. Medical Director Dr. James Morgan said the pressure inside the sealed chamber is equivalent to diving 30 to 60 feet into the ocean. “You can’t have a bad heart or lungs,” Morgan said. “You can’t be claustrophobic and we have to make sure we can equalize pressure in the ears.” Pressure in the ears is the biggest complaint from patients. At times, tubes will be inserted in the ears to relieve the pain, including Hendricks, who said he now has no problems whatsoever. “Before it was like going up in an airplane,” Hendricks said. “My ears would ring, buzz. There’s none of that anymore.” While the patient is enclosed, Laura McClintock, hyperbaric technician, stays next to the chamber at all times, monitoring the individual throughout the session. She can talk to them through a phone hooked up to the side of the chamber and is able to hear the patients when they’re talking. She also takes several tests before the patient goes in, including blood pressure and sugar. “I feel great,” Hendricks said. “I feel as good coming out as I was going in.” Both Ross and Morgan said the hospital is thrilled to have the chambers available to patients and there have been a number of successes preventing amputations. “We think it’s very exciting,” Ross said. “Evangelical is very pleased to be able to offer this treatment to patients as an alternative to wound care. It gives another opportunity to patients to get wounds healed.”
Posted in News, diabetes | Comments Off
May 9th, 2010
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Study to be launched
March 18th, 2010
Originally developed to help deep-sea divers suffering from brain compression illness, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is now being tested for the treatment of traumatic brain injury victims. The study, sponsored by the International Hyperbaric Medical Foundation, will take place among fifteen sites throughout the United States and will involve almost 1,000 patients. Everyone involved will be treated 80 times over a period of five months. So what is HBOT? It’s quite simple, really. It involves breathing 100% oxygen while under increased atmospheric pressure in an enclosed space. This pure oxygen, in turn, increases the amount of oxygen in one’s bloodstream and therefore traveling to one’s bodily organs and tissues. A preliminary study undertaken at the LSU Interim Public Hospital in New Orleans showed a “15-point increase in IQ in little more than a month, great reduction in depression, four times the expected improvements in … headaches and sleep disturbances, and great improvements in post-traumatic stress disorder” among the 40 patients involved. Though all 40 of these men and women were veterans who had sustained TBI’s at war, both veteran and civilian citizens will be recruited for the upcoming larger-scale study
Posted in Brain & Head Injuries/Concussions/TBI, Brain Injured Soldiers/Veterens, News | Comments Off
February 18th, 2010
G&G Holistic Addiction Treatment adds Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy HBOT
Feb 18, 2010
G&G Holistic Addiction Treatment is one of only a few addiction treatment facilities in the world to make Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy available to its clients.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE; PR Log (Press Release) – Feb 18, 2010 – North Miami Beach, Florida: John Giordano – President and Founder of G & G Holistic Addiction Treatment Center and co-founder Jerry Goldfarb – believe Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, or HBOT as it’s known in the medical industry, is the new paradigm in repairing damaged brain cells due to long-term drug and/or alcohol use. G & G Holistic Addiction Treatment Center is one of only a few addiction treatment facilities in the world to make Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy available to its clients. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is the medical use of oxygen at a level higher than atmospheric pressure. Under normal circumstances, oxygen is transported throughout the body only by red blood cells. With HBOT, oxygen is dissolved into all of the body’s fluids, the plasma, the central nervous system fluids, the lymph, and the bone and can be carried to areas where circulation is diminished or blocked. In this way, extra oxygen can reach all of the damaged tissues and the body can support its own healing process. The increased oxygen greatly enhances the ability of white blood cells to kill bacteria, reduces swelling and allows new blood vessels to grow more rapidly into the affected areas. (http://www.hbot.com/faq#1) John Giordano first saw the potential in HBOT when he came to learn that large doses of oxygen can improve brain functions – thus helping a person who has damaged their brain by abusing drugs and/or alcohol over extended periods of time. Although HBOT has only recently become available to their clients, Mr. Giordano and Goldfarb are very encouraged by what they have seen. “After just a few treatments, my clients tell me they have much more clarity in thought and find that they’re much more alert” says Giordano. “Physically, the change is palpable – their skin color comes back almost immediately, their overall look is healthier and the swagger is back in their step.” Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is recognized by most as the cure for decompression sickness — the bends — experienced by scuba divers who surface too quickly. However, doctors and researchers both agree that we’ve only scratched the surface of full healing potential of HBOT. There are currently 15 conditions treatable with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy that are approved by the FDA in the US. Additionally, the therapy has shown great promise in the ‘off-label’ treatment of a myriad of diseases and injuries such as: brain trauma, stroke, cancer, sports injuries, migraines, depression, multiple sclerosis, autism, cerebral palsy and senility to name just a mere few. The treatment itself is painless and non-invasive. It involves the patient sitting or reclining in a pressurized chamber with levels of oxygen up to 100% for anywhere between one and three hours. According to Giordano and Goldfarb, the U.S. is just now catching-up to the rest of the world in Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Although there are hundreds of Hyperbaric Chambers in the US; Europe, Russia and Japan boast of many thousands. The medical establishment in Japan claims that no citizen is ever more than half an hour away from a hyperbaric chamber. More than 25,000 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients have benefited from HBOT in Great Britain. Scotland’s Castle Craig Hospital is conducting a pilot study run by doctors from the University of Edinburgh, which will seek to establish whether stem cells are mobilized by HBOT and if there is a corresponding improvement in liver function. The French use HBOT for peripheral vascular and arterial problems. Russia has been using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for drug and alcohol detoxification for over twenty-years. Alcohol and drug abuse damage the brain in a way similar to that of carbon monoxide poisoning. Each occurrence of abuse robs the brain of vital oxygen – leaving in its path dead and damaged cells. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy rejuvenates the damaged brain cells and tissue while minimizing post acute withdrawal syndrome
Posted in Drug & Alcohol Addiction, Multiple Sclerois (MS), News | Comments Off
February 23rd, 2010
A breath of fresh news
February 23, 2010
Some clients even fall asleep in the chamber. That is how relaxing the Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is.
MANILA, Philippines – Early science has taught us that the air we breathe is actually an exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen. Nourishing over seven trillion cells in our body, something as simple as breathing may be something we take for granted. After all, the air we breathe can be had freely but today, with modern living’s attendant stresses and environmental factors, the very act of breathing can be a luxury. In a healthy wave of resolutions for the New Year, smokers intend to quit, athletes recommit to their training, and dieters are on a roll to find more effective ways to slim down. Why not resolve to improve the way we breathe? An innovative way to boost our oxygen supply and enhance our well-being is the gentle way of Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Also known as mHBOT, the treatment consists of a relaxing stay inside a hyperbaric chamber where an increase of pure oxygen is released, leading to a better diffusion of oxygen to the body. Undergoing mHBOT is beneficial for all ages. Not only does it give you an overall feeling of complete relaxation, clients also leave the center with a healthier glow as it also improves their complexion. A boost of oxygen produces that coveted collagen and elastin, and more mature clients find that their skin has better elasticity, resulting in a younger, fresher, and more even skin tone. MHBOT can also be used to improve the immune system and clear the lungs of smokers who are trying to quit. Meanwhile, those weekend party-hardy groups find that getting a session or two enables them to recover faster. “Health is not a trend or fashion. HBOT has a very solid medical basis. Everyone wants to get well faster and perform better. They just need to know and experience HBOT for themselves,” shares Dr. Lester Suntay of HBOT, Inc. at Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang. Broadcaster Rey Langit, for example, goes to HBOT, Inc. in his spare time. He believes that doing these sessions give him the extra energy to do his demanding job and powers up that famous voice he modulates on air. Visit Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Inc. at the third floor, Wellness Lane, Festival Supermall, Alabang. Call 994-3305 or e-mail hbot_ph@yahoo.com for more inquiries
Posted in Anti-Aging, News | Comments Off
February 22nd, 2010
Christy continues to climb ‘gentle incline’ of recovery
February 22, 2010 By JAMIE BARRAND, Editor
The last two years have been tough for Drew Christy, but he and his supporters, like sister Kaila, have stayed positive throughout his recovery.
FILLMORE — Today is the second anniversary of the event that forever changed the lives of Drew Christy and his family. On Feb. 22, 2008 Drew was driving by himself east of Manhattan Road on U.S. 40 when his 1999 Pathfinder hit a patch of ice and crashed into a tree. Drew, a 2006 South Putnam High School graduate, who had been a star athlete and exemplary student during his tenure there, was heading home to Fillmore after completing a semester at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, where he was a sophomore engineering major and a member of the football team. Drew sustained massive closed head and chest injuries in the crash. He was in a coma for four months, and doctors were not optimistic about his chances for survival, let along recovery. But Drew did survive. He has overcome hurdle after hurdle, and continues to grow stronger. “He continues to progress,” said Drew’s father Mark. “But it’s a gentle incline. It’s nothing rapid.” Mark describes Drew’s condition as “the same, only better.” Drew, who turned 22 on Dec. 8, has been at home since Nov. 1, 2008. He spent four weeks this past June as an inpatient at Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana in Indianapolis, and in November underwent a series of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) treatments. HBOT treatments are delivered in a hyperbaric chamber. Patients are given pure oxygen at a higher level than atmospheric pressure. Drew’s parents took him to Cincinnati every Thursday and stayed through Sunday for 10 weeks, and Drew received four to six HBOT treatments each time. “It’s made an amazing difference,” Mark said. “It’s removed a lot of the spasticity from his system.” Since the HBOT treatments, Mark said, Drew has become able to propel his wheelchair on his own and hold up his head better. “His pain level is down,” Mark said. “We’ll do (HBOT treatments) again this spring, but we had to give him a rest.” Drew still can’t speak, but Mark said he communicates quite well in other ways. “It’s tough,” Mark admitted. “But it’s just amazing that he’s awake. As difficult as it is, we’re pretty joyful about it.” Although two years have passed since his accident, those who knew Drew — and even many who didn’t — continue to be interested in or involved with his recovery. On Sunday, a praise and worship benefit concert for Drew was held at New Providence Baptist Church, where they Christy family are members. Drew was a member of the church’s worship team at the church, and it was that team that spearheaded Sunday’s event. “It is amazing,” Mark said. “It’s so easy to be emotional about something initially, but that tends to wear off and you kind of move on to the next emotional thing. It’s two years later, and people are still just as involved with this now at they were at the beginning. It’s really a testimony to the level of commitment Drew had to the things and people he was involved with before the accident. To have good friends, you have to be a good friend, and there are people who, from the start, have been so in tune with what’s going on with Drew.” A couple of Mark’s former teachers and coaches, their spouses and some of Drew’s family members and friends are among those who come regularly to the Christy home to help with Drew’s physical and developmental therapy. The basement of the family home has been set up with a hospital bed and other equipment, and is where Drew and those who help and take care of him spend much of their time. Mark, a self-employed software developer, is at home during the day, and although Drew has nursing care Mark is always available for his son. “After a long day in the basement, it’s just so great when someone shows up to help,” Mark said. For as much of a tragedy as it was, Drew’s accident turned out to be a way for Debbi to get to know her son even better than she had before. “I am continually astounded by the stories I hear about my son,” she said. “I get to know him better and better.” Just in the last three weeks, Drew has begun eating solid foods. And in light of the fact that he spent nearly the past two years getting his nutrition by way of a feeding tube, Debbi pretty much lets Drew eat what he wants. On Sunday, he wanted fish from Long John Silver’s. He has also requested Big Macs from McDonald’s and tacos from Taco Bell. “I don’t care what it is, he can have it,” Debbi said with a laugh. “I do feed him healthy things too … I try to keep it balanced … but if he wants Taco Bell, bring on the Taco Bell.” The first solids Drew was given were baby food. He was not impressed. “He didn’t like that at all,” Debbi said. “He’d tell me know and make all the faces. This is a college guy. He likes spaghetti and lasagna.” The Christys are grateful for every obstacle their son conquers, no matter how small. “It’s OK where we are,” Debbi said. “We are so thankful for where we are. Yes, we want more, we want it all … but for the next six weeks, we’ll take this.”
Posted in Brain & Head Injuries/Concussions/TBI | Comments Off
February 10th, 2010
Romanian Teenager Battles Lyme Disease with Help From the USA
February 10, 2010 – (MMD Newswire)
The daughter of a two Romanian physicians, father a cardiologist and mother a neonatologist, remembers being bitten by something in 2001 when Ana Ciobanu was only 6 years old. She developed headaches for the first time in her young life, which continued without help from standard interventions. In 2008, she was scratched by a cat and developed some skin lesions but because she had no other symptoms a year went by before she was diagnosed with Bartonella henselae, the cat-scratch disease. In April 2009, she was scratched by and owl and became so ill she was completely bed-ridden – it was then that she was also diagnosed with Rickettssia conori, Babesia and then Lyme. She began to walk again after one month of IV antibiotics but progress was slow.She began receiving hyperbaric oxygen treatments and experienced tremendous improvements and resolution of her headaches after just 20 treatments.She was being treated at the Hyperbaric and Diving Medicine Centre Constantza, Romania but she developed such severe Lyme vasculitis (see attached article) that she went into full circulatory collapse (no blood pressure). It was then that Dr. Ciobanu contacted Lyme and hyperbaric oxygen experts in the USA for help. Dr. Stoller, Medical Director of the San Francisco Institute for Hyperbaric Medicine as well as the Hyperbaric Medical Center of New Mexico, immediately recommended that Ana be placed on therapeutic doses of Curcumin (the healing component in the spice turmeric). Both Dr. Stoller and his nurse in San Francisco, Gayle Link, RN (an expert in treating Lyme in her own right) recommended that Ana resume hyperbaric oxygen at a lower pressure than she had been getting treated and last week a trial treatment went well. Ana will resume her treatments on February 12th. The Curcumin rapidly brought down the high levels of inflammatory biomarkers (cytokines) and Ana made a full recovery. The San Francisco Institute for Hyperbaric Medicine is the only hyperbaric treatment facility in San Francisco treating Lyme disease, just as The Hyperbaric Medical Center of New Mexico is the only facility treating Lyme in New Mexico. Lyme disease is an international problem and calls for international cooperation. Ana’s mother can be reached at daniela.ciobanu9564@gmail.com. The first two movies made on Dark-field Microscopy showing the Lyme infection before hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be obtained at: http://dl.transfer.ro/Transfer_ro-26Jan-3a44b7dfc01014.zip
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May 9th, 2010
Going hyperbaric: Testing Freeney’s system
Feb 04 2010
MIAMI — If you put me side by side with Dwight Freeney, I’m not going to win in many categories. For a day, however, I’ll give you the one where I trumped him: Hyperbaric chambers. As part of the rehabilitation of his sprained right ankle, the COLTS’ DEFENSIVE END spends time in a hyperbaric chamber, where increased air pressure increases the oxygen in his system and can help speed recovery. What better participatory journalism piece this week than to test it out? With the help of ESPN resident physical therapist Stephania Bell and the fine folks at University of Miami Hospital, I spent 25 minutes breathing 100 percent oxygen at two times normal atmospheric pressure. If I did it more, maybe 90 minutes 10 different times, I might feel younger and my metabolism would speed up, my experts said. Growing a full head of hair would be much less likely. Should Freeney play and play well Sunday, he could become the hyperbaric chamber poster boy. “I think there are definitely pro [athletes] that are using it with success,” said Dr. Magaly Rodriguez, a surgeon at the hospital’s wound care center who oversaw my treatment. But such use is “off protocol.” There are only 13 official medical uses for the chamber, to treat things such as carbon monoxide poisoning, compromised skin grafts or diabetic foot ulcers. Though I contemplated spraining an ankle for the team and did bang my shin on a media center chair as I packed up for the hospital, I entered the chamber a healthy person. And for a healthy person, Rodriguez said time in a hyperbaric chamber can have anti-aging and body cleansing results. Before my visit with Rodriguez and nurse/hyperbaric coordinator Angelina Meza-Suarez, I asked Freeney for details of his hyperbaric chamber use. I thought I’d have tight space issues — I nearly had a panic attack in a narrow staircase at Notre Dame (the Cathedral in Paris, not the school in South Bend, Ind.). Colts linebacker Gary Brackett increased my concern when he told me he didn’t do hyperbaric chambers because he’s claustrophobic. “If you’re claustrophobic, you probably need to stay away from it,” Freeney told me. “It just kind of feels like you’re in an incubator … I take my laptop in, just sit it up on my chest, maybe watch a little film, zone out, fall asleep, wake up, do a little Internet search. And that’s great for the circulation.” Great, I thought, I’ll write a blog entry on my laptop inside the chamber, turn on Pandora and film the video for this piece. Distractions would help me handle it. But for the trip into the Sechrist 3200 Monoplace Chamber, I needed to be in a gown, take no metal with me and be flat on my back. Uh-oh. My chamber is a futuristic glass tube or canister, a coffin without corners and a great deal more circulation. Cost: $35,000 to $38,000. It’s sold only to hospitals, and a doctor must be present when it’s in use. According to Rodriguez, the sort of zip-up, blow-up chamber Freeney’s using if he’s taking a laptop with him uses regular air, which is 21 percent oxygen, not 100 percent oxygen like I got. He’s probably at about 1.3 atmospheres worth of pressure; I was in 2, the equivalent of 34 feet below sea level. I changed into the gown and Meza-Suarez measured my blood sugar before putting electrodes on me. With a photographer and a videographer in tow, a claustrophobic incident would a) be highly embarrassing and b) not make for much of a story. With those fears as motivation, I took deep breaths, laid down, got a pep talk and felt the bed roll into the chamber. Meza-Suarez closed the door behind me and I didn’t look back, because that thing looked like the door on a mini bank vault. But I calmed quickly. Air streamed in, making the sound you may hear standing by a large vent. The one thing I was supposed to notice was the pressure in my ears, and I needed to be conscious of swallowing or yawning to pop them. But they bothered me only a little, right at the end. Meza-Suarez talked to me via phone, checking in often. With the video camera light and the photographer hovering, I was a little self conscious. (Watching the video now, I am more so. I’m typically animated, but coming out of that tube I couldn’t have had a worse monotone performance. Or more chins.) It got pretty cold in there, even under a thick blanket. The tight space wasn’t an issue. There was elbow room on both sides and the top was far away from the tip of my nose. An open MRI I once had on a broken elbow was a far, far worse experience. I could have fallen asleep, and short nap would have come in handy. As Rodriguez and Meza-Suarez promised, I wound up feeling tired from the experience. But if I was committing to this long term, considering I might go in a 41-year-old and come out 36, and that my metabolism could convert to that of a young Parisian modal, the yawning wouldn’t be a hassle at all
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February 4th, 2010
Retired NFL player finds hope for his brain in oxygen chamber
Feb 4, 2010 by Melanie D.G. Kaplan
George Visger was a defensive lineman in the NFL. He said his dream was to play for five years and then retire and build a homestead in Alaska. Things didn’t turn out the way he expected. Today Visger is 51. He is a wildlife biologist in Northern California and has spent the better part of the last 28 years suffering from brain damage, the result of numerous concussions. Visger played for the University of Colorado in the 1977 Orange Bowl, and many hard hits later, he finished his NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers, playing with the 1981 team that won the franchise’s first Super Bowl. In one of his earlier emails to me, Visger wrote, “The human body was not meant to play football. My Orange Bowl and Super Bowl rings are not worth what my family goes through dealing with my short term memory issues, anger management issues and lack of judgment.” We talked on the phone last week.
You started hyperbaric oxygen therapy last week. Have you noticed a difference?
Within three treatments I was feeling really different. I’m a lot less tense, and my memory is better. Just remembering your call today—that wouldn’t have happened before. A few months ago I also, started taking some Dr. Barry Sears food supplements—industrial grade Omega 3 and concentrated fruit and vegetable juices, and I think that is helping too.
Describe the experience in the oxygen chamber.
They slide you in a big pressurized glass tube and crank up the oxygen level 10 times the normal level, and for brain injuries, 1.5 times the normal atmospheric pressure. So they lock me in there and let me bake for an hour. It super-charges your blood with oxygen, which helps restore metabolic activity to the damaged areas of my brain and helps speed up the healing process. When they crank up the pressure, your ears start popping, but otherwise you don’t feel anything. They originally told me 40 treatments, but now they said with my damage they want me to do 80.
How do you feel about concussions and football getting so much media coverage recently?
It’s about time. I’ve been fighting this fight for 28 years. Things have to change. Someone needs to be held accountable. Sure, you play football and you know there are risks; all we’re asking for is to be taken care of.
How is your daily life affected?
I live out of notebooks. I have to take notes on all my phone calls and appointments. I’m taking notes now. I can’t tell you by the end of the day what I worked on in the morning. I’ve lived like that for years. When I was finishing my biology degree, I’d have to write in my notebook where I parked my truck. Yet I’m involved in three different businesses and give motivational talks. I also have insomnia and anger management issues. My [three] kids are afraid of me. They don’t know which dad’s going to come home today, whether he’ll be sweet or lose his temper.
When was your first concussion?
I started playing football when I was 11. My two loves were biology and playing football. I made a goal when I played Pop Warner football. I was scrawny and skinny, but I was motivated. I was eating a dozen raw eggs a day, and I built myself up. I was knocked totally unconscious in a tackling drill and hospitalized when I was 13. I had a number of concussions through high school and college. And my second year with the 49ers–this was the first Super Bowl team and I was just coming off a knee surgery—I started developing pounding headaches, temporary loss of vision and projectile vomiting.
What was your experience with the team doctor at the 49ers?
He said I had high blood pressure. I was 22, so I said, “OK.” My brain was hemorrhaging on me, and I was on high blood pressure meds. I’d developed hydrocephalus [in which excess fluid accumulates in and around the brain]. It wasn’t much after that I was having emergency brain surgery to put a shunt in my head. I’m in intensive care for 14 days. This was September 1981. I had the next two surgeries the following May, four months after [the team] won the Super Bowl.
How many brain surgeries have you had now?
I’m on my ninth brain surgery and sixth anti-seizure medication. The shunt—I’ve had some last 10 hours and this one has lasted 16 years. When it goes, I start getting killer headaches. I went to see Dr. [Daniel] Amen, who does free one-day evaluations for retired NFL players. I went for three days. He said it’s amazing I’m functioning. I have huge holes on the SPECT scan of my right frontal cortex He said I’m the 67th NFL player who had come through the clinic. He said, “You’re showing early signs of the stuff that’s killing guys in their 40s and 50s.”
Will you watch the Super Bowl?
I didn’t watch a football game for six or seven years. Now I watch, but I could care less who wins. I’m so cognizant of the hits, and the only thing going through my minds is, “What is that doing to his brain? What’s it doing to his body?” Fifteen years from now their bodies are going to be trashed
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May 9th, 2010
Be sure of it, Dwight Freeney will play
February 2nd 2010
F ORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Dwight Freeney’s ankle hurts. At this time of the year whose doesn’t? According to the Indianapolis Colts, their Pro Bowl defensive end has a grade 3 ankle injury, which, according to someone in possession of a license to practice medicine, means he has a torn ligament in his ankle. In theory, that would mean Freeney will not play in Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday, but do not be fooled. When teams start talking about the severity of someone’s mysterious injury before a big game, you can be sure of one thing – he’s playing. The Colts were talking last night as if Freeney was on life support rather than spending his idle time inside a hyperbaric chamber. According to coach Jim Caldwell and a half-dozen of his players, who spoke at a brief media session after their plane landed in Fort Lauderdale, they are preparing diligently for life without Dwight. “I’m praying for him,” defensive tackle Daniel Muir said. It’s not on the schedule, but a novena will be held at the Colts’ hotel before today’s media session at Sun Life Stadium in Miami. Surely someone is sitting shiva for the passing of the Colts’ chances against the Saints, for all is lost. After all, Freeney’s ankle is a) sprained, b) torn to shreds, c) crushed to pumice, or d) none of the above. Whatever the condition of Freeney’s ankle, the likelihood it will prevent him from playing Sunday is not “probable.” Did not Terrell Owens play in a Super Bowl against the Patriots [ team stats ] with a broken leg and have nine catches? To quote Bill Belichick , “I’m no doctor,” but last time I thought about it, a torn ankle ligament didn’t strike me as something as daunting as a broken leg. “He’s day-to-day,” Caldwell said. Well, aren’t we all? “If he can’t go it’s the old mantra,” Caldwell continued. “Next man up. Certainly he’s been a quick healer, but he hasn’t been practicing, and if he hasn’t been practicing, we prepare as if he won’t play.” This is a Christian man of faith talking there, proving once again that somewhere buried in the Bible’s 1,000-plus pages is special dispensation from fibbing for football coaches. What is ironic is that the injury report was created by former NFL commissioner Bert Bell after an attempt was made to fix the 1946 championship game between the Giants and Bears. Bell suspended two Giants players, Frank Filchock and Merle Hapes, believing they had been approached by gamblers. The following year Bell instituted the injury report in an effort to eliminate inside information being sold to gamblers. Since then the league has consistently said the purpose of the injury report is to protect the integrity of the game. Considering the way it has been misused in recent years by teams like the Colts and Patriots, it might be protecting something, but integrity isn’t it. Freeney reportedly has spent considerable time in a hyperbaric chamber in Miami. It is a device that increases the pressure of oxygen in body tissue to promote rapid healing
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May 9th, 2010
Oxygen treatment pioneered in Scotland
January 27th 2010 Private rehabilitation treatment news
A new treatment involving the use of pressurised oxygen is being pioneered at one of Europe’s leading rehabilitation clinics. Castle Craig, a rehab clinic in Scotland, is also to become a global resource on the use of hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT). Researchers from Edinburgh University have already studied the innovative procedure, which can be used as an aid in cancer treatment and to boost healing from conditions such as MRSA and multiple sclerosis. Peter McCann, chairman at Castle Craig Hospital, said: “HBOT is a new type of therapy offered at Castle Craig – our own research is still in the early stages and, as far as I am aware, no other clinics or hospitals treating addictions in the UK are offering this treatment.” He added that promoting the treatment and “realising its potential” would become crucial if the maximum number or patients were to benefit. HBOT involves patients spending around 60 minutes at a time in a chamber where they breathe pressurised pure oxygen. The chamber allows ten times the normal amount of oxygen to be dissolved in the bloodstream, which can help white blood cells to kill bacteria, reduce swelling and speed up the recovery of damaged tissue.
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May 9th, 2010
Neurofeedback and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Offer Hope for a Brain Injury Patient
January 20th 2010 • By Clare Albright • Filed In: Alternative Medicine
Case study of a car accident victim who used neurofeedback and hyperbaric oxygen therapy to regain functioning.
In 2007, Tito was a vibrant young man whose whole life lay ahead of him. But in an instant, that life was drastically changed when a car accident left him with severe brain damage. Doctors told his mother, Gladys, she would have to say goodbye to her son. They didn’t expect him to live for more than 24 hours. Willing to do anything to help Tito, Gladys decided to give hyperbaric oxygen therapy a try. Dr. Adam Breiner, a naturopathic doctor and co-founder of Breiner Whole-Body Health Centre in Connecticut, immediately began sessions with Tito. After only three hours in the hyperbaric chamber, Tito’s brain started to awaken. He showed signs of increased alertness, and he began to move around Dr. Breiner suggested 40 to 80 more hours of therapy, and to further help Tito’s brain to recover, he began Neurofeedback therapy. Neurofeedback is gaining recognition in the medical community as an alternative treatment for brain injuries, as well as many other neurological disorders. Using an Electroencephalogram, or EEG device, to measure electrical activity in the brain, a patient is able to “see” how his or her brain waves are functioning by looking at a monitor. Then, through positive reinforcement, the brain is trained to use waves that operate within a normal range of function. After several sessions, these changes may become long lasting. The procedure is safe and completely non-invasive. With the combination of neurofeedback with hyperbaric oxygen therapies, Tito progressed rapidly. Soon he was able to eat regular food. His dark eyes would shine with recognition when family members came to visit, and he started to communicate verbally. He could answer simple questions and even recognize dates. Gladys happily recalls the day when Tito knew that it was his birthday. Neurofeedback is changing lives. Never before have we been able to work so precisely with the human brain to bring about these exciting changes. Fortunately, those who have suffered a traumatic brain injury usually respond powerfully and quickly to neurofeedback. Professor John Gruzelier, from Imperial College London at Charing Cross hospital commented “Neurofeedback has been proven to be effective in altering brain activity, but the extent to which such alterations can influence behavior are still unknown.” Notice that he did not place a cap on what is possible; he is simply saying, in so many words, this much we know, and we need to see what else there is to know. Neurofeedback epitomizes the phrase “seeing is believing.” The ability to see what the brain is doing in real time, and continue to watch as it makes changes and improvements, shifting effortlessly from one frequency to another depending on the context and the task, is a marvelous demonstration of the complexity of the human brain and nervous system. Case studies show that, among other things, patients are delightfully surprised to see a return of their short term memory, ability to organize, prioritize and sequence, and overall, get a sense of things being normal again, after the appropriate number of neurofeedback sessions. Tito continues to progress, both mentally and physically, is beginning to recognize written words, and also smiles more.
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May 9th, 2010
Cosmetic surgeons and oxygen therapy hyperbaric.
January 15, 2010
This is a “test”
Hyperbaric oxygen can: Help resolve unexpected complications post-surgery. Dramatically reduce post-surgical bruising, swelling, and inflammation. Speed up healing and recovery time from elective surgery. Important effects of post-surgical hyperbaric oxygen for your patients would be the stimulation of leukocyte microbial killing, the enhancement of fibroblast replication, and increased collagen formation and neovascularization of ischemic tissue. Hyperbaric oxygen is a safe way to alter the inflammatory process to help wound healing. It cuts down pain and swelling, inflammation in tissues, and it has an anti-bacterial effect. Patients who had this therapy in conjunction with their cosmetic surgery seem to have a shorter recuperation period. And scars have been shown to heal better with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Cosmetic surgeons are recommending hyperbaric oxygen particularly for patients who have problems with healing. They may have been smokers, overweight, they may be immunity suppressed, or their incisions may have become infected, etc. The bruising goes away faster, swelling decreases faster, and the patients actually feel better overall. HBOT is known to be exceedingly effective for laser peels. After a laser peel, lingering redness is a problem for many patients. The chamber gets rid of the red more quickly. For liposuction, the chamber helps the swelling decrease much faster, which results in less post-operative discomfort. Normally, only red blood cells are fully saturated with oxygen molecules and the body consumes energy sending it to demanding cells. However, inside the hyperbaric oxygen chamber, oxygen obeys Henry’s Universal Gas Law and so the oxygen becomes soluble using passive diffusion to saturate the plasma and cerebrospinal fluid. Depending on the treatment depth, the patient will leave the chamber saturated with up to twenty times normal oxygen levels.
HBOT triggers many positive physiological events:
New tissue striving to fill the dead tissue wound space requires a 24 times oxidative burst. This intense competition for oxygen can cause inflammation and swelling. HBOT provides this additional oxygen.
HBOT sessions prior to surgery will eliminate the reperfusion phenomenon, reducing the chance of scar tissue forming. It also reduces inflamation and swelling.
Hypoxia in normally perfused tissue can unexpectedly occur post-surgically due to an inflammatory response and edema. HBOT corrects hypoxia and dramatically reduces inflammation and swelling.
HBOT increases fibroblast replication and collagen production. It also raises the RNA/DNA ratio in the tissues, indicating increased formation of rough endoplasmic reticulum of cells of the wounded area.
From Beverly Hills to New York City, more and more cosmetic surgeons are adding Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to their protocol, routinely treating their Patients before and after surgery, sometimes offering hyperbaric facilities in the offices of their rights
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May 9th, 2010
Hyperbaric Oxygen Study Shows Potential Benefit for Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury
A 5-year study of patients with severe traumatic brain injury conducted at Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, shows significant benefit of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to improve brain metabolism and its ability to recover from injury. The results were recently published in the Journal of Neurosurgery.
Every year, more than 1.4 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI)—the leading cause of death and disability in children and young adults. Those who survive often face months or even years of therapy, and sometimes the damage to the brain is irreversible. Decreased use of oxygenated blood to brain tissue immediately after the injury is often to blame. Cells need oxygen to fuel metabolism for cellular growth and repair. Healthy brains produce their own energy to maintain brain tissue and keep the rest of the body doing what it’s supposed to do. That includes automatic processes such as breathing and circulation, and voluntary actions such as walking and talking. After a traumatic brain injury, the brain itself needs care. Barriers to blood flow can be compromised from the impact of the injury itself, and then when the brain swells inside the skull, a secondary injury can occur that causes even more brain damage. Within 24 hours after injury, eligible patients for the study were randomized into three groups: One group received normobaric treatment: oxygen delivered at the patient’s bedside; another group received hyperbaric treatment in Hennepin County Medical Center’s hyperbaric oxygen chamber; and a third (control) group did not receive additional oxygen therapy. All groups received the intensive standard of care for brain injury consistent with good clinical practice. The patients who received higher levels of oxygen (hyperoxia) via the hyperbaric oxygen chamber were found to have a marked increase in positive brain metabolism when compared to the normobaric and control group. This research provides important preliminary data for a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported multicenter trial. NIH trials directly assess the ability to improve clinical outcomes, which is the final step needed to change standard clinical processes. Currently standard clinical practice does not include hyperbaric oxygen for traumatic brain injury. The Traumatic Brain Injury Center at Hennepin County Medical Center offers comprehensive, multidisciplinary patient care education and research to serve people who have sustained a traumatic brain injury. Providing a range of state-of-the-art medical and rehabilitative services, HCMC’s expertise spans the continuum of care for adult and pediatric TBI patients, from prevention to emergency care, neurosurgery, critical care, rehabilitation, and the Mild to Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic.
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January 10th, 2010
Doctor spotlights success of wound recovery center
Jan 12, 2010 by Colby Cremins
The new assistant director of the Kent Hospital Wound Recovery Center believes residents could receive immeasurable benefits from its hyperbaric medicine center if they used it. “Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is not taught in most medical schools and my initial focus will be to increase awareness among physicians so that more patients will have access to this life-enhancing treatment,” Dr. Ricardo M. Duran said Thursday. Duran, a graduate of Military University in Bogota, Columbia, completed a Hyperbaric and Undersea Medicine Fellowship at Duke University. “This is an exciting development for the program with the arrival of Dr. Duran and his expertise as well as the newest accreditation recently achieved,” Sandra Coletta, Kent Hospital President and CEO said in a statement. The center has achieved Accreditation with Distinction, the highest level of distinction offered by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UMHS). The wound center is one of three in New England that offers hyperbaric medicine treatments. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is used to treat a variety of conditions including wounds that fail to heal because of radiation treatments, non-healing surgical wounds, bone and other infections and diabetic foot wounds. Emergency hyperbaric treatments are used for people exposed to carbon monoxide. “In the winter carbon monoxide poisoning is at its highest,” said Duran. There is a significant increase in CO poisoning in the colder months due to improper use of heating sources. “People using gas grills in their garages and thinking it’s ventilated properly often suffer from CO poisoning,” said Sue Lessard, program director for the wound center. Duran hopes to expand the knowledge of the medical community about hyperbaric treatments and what type of positive outcomes they can have. “Treatment creates new and healthy blood vessels, allowing healing to occur,” said Duran. Initially, HBOT was developed as a treatment for diving disorders involving bubbles of gas in the tissues, such as decompression sickness and gas embolism known as the Bends. The chamber cures these disorders by increasing pressure, reducing the size of the gas bubbles and improving the transport of blood to downstream tissues. The high concentrations of oxygen in the tissues are beneficial in keeping oxygen-starved tissues alive and have the effect of removing the nitrogen from the bubble, making it smaller until it consists only of oxygen, which is reabsorbed into the body. After elimination of bubbles, the pressure is gradually reduced back to atmospheric levels, according to Duran. “One of our goals is to start making the diving community more aware of the importance of check-ups and proper fitness to dive because that is when accidents happen,” said Duran. Duran worked at the Divers Alert Network prior to coming to Kent. Recently, a family in Revere Beach, Mass., was having a picnic in an enclosed garage and suffered from severe carbon monoxide exposure, presumably from the cooking source. The mother and her 5-year-old son were transferred to Kent where they were treated with HBOT three times over a 24-hour period with positive results. “They only knew about the poisoning because the child had a seizure,” said Duran. Often times when carbon monoxide is present animals or small children will feel the effects first. Coal miners used to bring canaries into the mines with them to test the safety of the air. Many people are unaware of the positive effects that HBOT can have and Duran hopes that he will be able to increase the dialogue between patients and doctors. “The treatment won’t solve everything, people need to be screened for specific indications and if those are met the results are usually good,” said Duran. HBOT has been around since the early 1800s, but due to a lack of research it has not been widely used for treatments. Kent opened its hyperbaric center eight years ago and is now a 24-hour-a-day emergency treatment center. The eight staff members saw approximately 130 patients last year. “We are just beginning to hit the tip of the iceberg with the applications for HBOT,” said Lessard. The flesh-eating disease, necrotizing faciitis, has an 80 percent mortality rate, but with HBOT the disease is stopped almost instantly. The average treatment lasts 90 minutes to two hours and the frequency depends on why the treatment is necessary. For carbon monoxide poisoning people are usually treated three times in a 24-hour period, but for diabetes it is usually once a day. The chamber fills with 100 percent oxygen, air only consists of 21 percent, and then the atmospheric pressure within the chamber is raised. There is a risk of fire hazards associated with concentrated oxygen so patients enter the chamber wearing only hospital scrubs to ensure nothing flammable is worn. A boy and his grandmother died last summer after a chamber exploded in Florida. The boy was undergoing HBOT for cerebral palsy. All staff members at Kent’s wound center are certified and the unit has its accreditation through the UHMS. Kent’s unit has three hyperbaric chambers and usually services nine patients a day
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January 4th, 2010
Hyperbaric chamber may help patients recover from traumatic brain injury
January 4, 2010 By Renee Tessman
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Local researchers have uncovered a new potential use for hyperbaric chambers that’s so promising, the results have been published in a national journal. And an assault victim is especially thankful for this innovative idea. The prognosis wasn’t good for Brady Anderson back in the spring of 2005. He had a severe traumatic brain injury after being beaten by two men outside a Minneapolis bar just one week before he was to graduate from the University of Minnesota. Anderson told us by phone from his home in Thief River Falls, “Initially they said if I recovered I wouldn’t be able to walk, talk and, you know, understand people’s communication. And here I am today and I’m really fortunate.” Anderson says he has recovered completely with only a few minor memory issues. He believes it’s in part due to being treated in the hyperbaric chamber at Hennepin County Medical Center. He says, “I want to see the hyperbaric chamber be a standard form of treatment for brain injuries.”
Anderson was one of 90 patients with traumatic brain injury given hyperbaric oxygen therapy as part of an HCMC study now published in the Journal of Neurosurgery. Neurosurgeon and study co-author Dr. Gaylan Rockswold explains, “What we found was the hyperbaric oxygen really improved what we call the metabolism or the energy production in the brain.” He continues, “At the time of a brain injury, the demands for energy actually go up at the same time the delivery of oxygen to the brain goes down. And there really is an energy crisis in the brain that leads to cell death.” Rockswold says the study showed giving a patient hyperbaric oxygen therapy significantly increased the brain’s ability to produce energy. He says, “Were very pleased.” Anderson is sure it improved his outcome. He eventually graduated and got his psychology degree. He says graduation day, “was really emotional.” He is now working in his field but hopes to eventually work with others suffering from brain injuries. Right now, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is not available to the general public. More studies need to be done. Because this research is so promising, HCMC has applied for a $23 million grant to help fund a much larger multi-center randomized trial.
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January 3rd, 2010
Pioneers wound center wins award
January 3, 2010 BY IMPERIAL VALLEY PRESS STAFF
Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District’s Wound Care Center has been recognized with the Center of Distinction Award. The award was presented by Diversified Clinical Services, the largest national wound healing company, because of the Wound Care Center’s high patient satisfaction, exceptional healing rates and outstanding clinical outcomes. For 12 consecutive months, the Wound Care Center has achieved success in healing difficult-to-treat wounds. The Center of Distinction Award has been presented to only two other locations in the Western United States. Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District partners with Diversified Clinical Services Inc. to provide specialized treatments through the Wound Care Center. “DCS brings us enormous resource and specialized expertise which enables us to meet the increasing community demands for dedicated wound care,” Richard L. Mendoza, chief executive officer of PMHD, said. Eight million Americans suffer from chronic wounds, which are visible and serious wounds that do not respond after 30 days of conventional medical care. With an aging population, the diabetes and obesity epidemics, and the increasing incidence of chronic disease, the number of people suffering from hard-to-heal wounds is staggering. The incidence of chronic wounds is highest among diabetics, which often results in amputation if not treated with the latest healing techniques. A critical component of a patient’s healing process at the Wound Care Center at PMHD is the Medicare-approved use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which accelerates the process of healing by providing more concentrated and pressurized oxygen in monitored chambers. It is recognized as an important adjunct therapy in the treatment of hard-to-heal wounds and amputation prevention by Medicare and other payers. “We’re honored,” Dr. Francisco Tirol, medical director at the Wound Care Center, said. “It’s a privilege to be part of a great collaborative effort between the hospital and DCS. Together, we are able to heal patients in this community and help them get back to living their lives.”
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January 18th, 2010
Central Texas Medical Center expands wound-healing capabilities
January 18, 2010 San Antonio Business Journal
Central Texas Medical Center, a hospital based in San Marcos, opened a new Institute for Advanced Wound Healing this month. Patients throughout Austin and San Antonio will be able to take advantage of advanced wound therapies, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The new institute is on the ground floor of the hospital’s main building on its San Marcos campus. Eight medical professionals have been hired to staff the institute. The wound-healing institute consists of 4,500 square feet of space. The institute is just the latest in a series of expansions that have taken place at the hospital since 2007. The hospital also added a 64,000-square-foot Women’s Center and a cardiac inpatient nursing unit within the last two years. The Central Texas Medical Center is a 178-bed acute-care hospital that is part of the Adventist Health System
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January 19th, 2010
St. E’s gets new equipment to help treat major wounds
Jan 19, 2010 by ANGELICA A. MORRISON
A hyperbaric oxygen chamber in a crate is lifted into a window at the St. Elizabeth Medical Arts building on Middle Settlement road on Tuesday Jan. 19, 2010 in New Hartford.
ANGELICA A. MORRISON
A hyperbaric oxygen chamber in a crate is lifted into a window at the St. Elizabeth Medical Arts building on Middle Settlement Road on Tuesday Jan. 19, 2010 in New Hartford.
ANGELICA A. MORRISON
A hyperbaric oxygen chamber sits on the ground before being loaded into a window of the St. Elizabeth Medical Arts building on Tuesday Jan. 19, 2010 on Middle Settlement Road in New Hartford.
NEW HARTFORD — two hyperbaric oxygen chambers were lifted through a window Tuesday morning at the St. Elizabeth Medical Arts building on Middle Settlement Road. The equipment will be used to treat major wounds, said Pierre Michaud, program director for advanced wound care at St. Elizabeth Medical Center. Medical center officials said the two are the only hyperbaric oxygen chambers in the region.
There also are chambers in Syracuse and Albany.
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January 27th, 2010
Hyperbaric chamber accelerates, improves wound healing process
January 27, 2010
BEECH GROVE, Ind. – An estimated 5 million Americans live with non-healing and chronic wounds and specialized care often is the only pathway for treatment. St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers is now using a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to promote healing in wound care. The chamber is currently used at the Wound Care Institute to treat outpatients with chronic or hard-to-heal wounds. The hyperbaric oxygen chamber is a clear, enclosed chamber that exerts atmospheric pressure to assist in the treatment of some wounds. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or the breathing of pressurized oxygen, has been shown to accelerate and improve the healing process and be a vital tool for those at risk for losing a limb. The tank compresses the molecules in the air and allows the compressed oxygen to enter into smaller blood vessels and tissue that it would not normally be able to penetrate, thereby promoting healing. Treatments typically last for 90 minutes at pressure, one time each day, five days a week, for six weeks. The treatments are ideal for patients with complicated wounds such as diabetic ulcers, post surgical foot wounds and bone infection. During treatments, patients are able to watch television, listen to music, and speak with the clinician – or even sleep. The institute also offers a second location at St. Francis Hospital-Mooresville. .Both centers meet a full spectrum of patient needs with a wide range of specialized service, including the only program of its kind to treat diabetes foot and ankle problems and limb preservation.
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January 28th, 2010
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Facility to Treat Patients with Difficult to Heal Wounds
28/01/2010
LAKE SUCCESS, NY – The North Shore-LIJ Health System today announced the opening of a new, high-tech Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy facility as the latest modality to treat patients with chronic wounds at its Comprehensive Wound Care Center in Lake Success. The Wound Care Center, an outpatient program of the Department of Surgery at North Shore University Hospital and LIJ Medical Center, provides a comprehensive wound treatment program that offers a multidisciplinary approach to care, not only to heal wounds but also to preserve limbs and prevent wound recurrence. The center, among one of the most advanced in the region, is staffed by specially trained healthcare professionals who work together to develop individualized treatment plans that best meet the needs of patients. Specialists on the wound care team include: vascular, general, plastic and podiatric surgeons; certified wound care nurse practitioners; registered nurses; and physical therapists. For most people, a cut, scrape or minor injury usually heals on its own and does not require medical attention. However, some people develop wounds, infections or pressure ulcers that will not heal, even after many weeks and months, causing severe pain and disability. Often, these patients are suffering from complications of diabetes, vascular disease, tissue damage from radiation therapy and non-healing traumatic wounds, and need specialized wound treatment. “Hyperbaric oxygen therapy offers a high-tech solution to the complex problem of healing chronic wounds,” said Gene Coppa, MD, senior vice president of surgical services of the North Shore-LIJ Health System. “Working very closely with referring physicians, the wound care/hyperbaric medicine team develops a customized treatment plan for patients with the goal of getting them healed quickly and back to their highest level of functioning.” Hyperbaric oxygen therapy works by allowing patients to breathe 100 percent oxygen at two-to-three times greater-than-normal atmospheric pressure while safely enclosed and monitored in a pressurized chamber. This increases the amount of oxygen that can be delivered to the body’s tissues by the blood. This boosts blood flow to the wound site, improves the body’s response to infection and supports tissue growth and healing. Many wound healing problems may require 30 to 40 hyperbaric oxygen treatments. The Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy facility has two state-of-the-art hyperbaric chambers and flat-screen TV’s for patients to help relax during treatments. The facility is easily reached via an entrance in the underground parking garage at 1999 Marcus Ave., minimizing walking for patients who may have mobility issues. For more information, call (516) 233-3780.
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January 29th, 2010
Hospital’s wound care center to open Feb. 1
January 29, 2010 by TONY Di DOMIZIO
WEST ROCKHILL — Grand View Hospital wants you to sleep and heal well.
On Feb. 1, a new wound care center at the outpatient center of Grand View and the Stoneridge Sleep Center will officially open to patients. The $635,000 wound care center will specialize in treatment of chronic and non-healing wounds. The 3,500-square-foot center occupies former warehouse space at the outpatient center at Lawn Avenue and Route 309, and is affiliated with Diversified Clinical Services, a major wound care management company. “A lot of the time our patients will be diabetic,” said Keith Hammerschmidt, manager of physical medicine at Grand View Hospital. “When diabetics have an open wound, it is harder to heal.” Jody Hanks, program director of the wound care center, said a majority of patients are 50 years and older and diabetic. “Grand View sees an unmet need for care and treatment of problem and chronic wounds,” he said. “In a 15-mile radius, there are 54,000 people. Statistically, 8 percent are diabetic and the wound care center will see 3 percent of that patient base.” The center features five treatment rooms with podiatric chairs. Doctors will spend most of the time treating the feet of diabetics since they face possible amputation of limbs due to wounds and their condition. The biggest feature of the center is the hyperbaric oxygen therapy room. It is there where patients can be referred for treatment in one of two hyperbaric chambers. The chambers give patients 100 percent oxygen in a pressurized environment up to two atmospheres, which is equivalent to diving 30 feet underwater. Hammerschmidt said 10 to 15 percent of patients qualify for hyperbaric treatment. “It allows more oxygen into the blood so wounds can heal faster,” he said. “Diabetics often do not get enough nutrients to the wound bed.” Patients spend about two to three hours in the chamber. Each one is equipped with flat-screen TVs to help pass the time. “Each one delivers 10 to 20 times more oxygen to tissues than normal air and strengthens growth to new blood vessels,” Hanks said. While patients may visit the wound care area once a week, hyperbaric patients visit five days a week as a protocol, Hammerschmidt said. Prior to the wound care center, physicians sent patients needing such treatment to other facilities. Now, Hammerschmidt said, patients can go from Grand View Hospital to Grand View Home Care to the wound center if need be and stay with the product. “Here, there is the involvement of a doctor dedicated to patients’ wounds,” Hammerschmidt said. “Another difference than other centers is the inclusion of hyperbaric chambers.” Aside from diabetic wounds, the center will treat those suffering from pressure ulcers, bed sores and soft tissue damage from radiation injuries. Over at Stoneridge Sleep Center, clinical manager Scott McMaster wants to make sure patients have all the comforts of home. Each of the four bedrooms at the new $500,000 sleep center, which is a collaboration between Grand View and Abington Health Lansdale Hospital, feature Tempur-Pedic mattresses on queen beds, flat-screen TVs, a bathroom — and an infrared camera where technicians watch patients while they sleep. “The last thing we want is a setting that is very clinical or cold and not real friendly,” McMaster said. Patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnea, sleepwalking, sleep-eating, narcolepsy, insomnia, restless leg syndrome and other sleep disorders can receive diagnosis and treatment at the center. “It’s typically a two-night procedure. The first night is the diagnosis and the second night is the treatment,” McMaster said. A control room is where two technicians can monitor up to four patients at one time. Computers provide information on body activity, like brain function, muscle tone, heart rate, oxygen level and EKG. McMaster said the biggest issues now are the number of sleep disorders being identified and the number of people suffering in the community that are underserved. The sleep center is located at the Stoneridge Professional Center, 670 Lawn Avenue
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February 2nd, 2010
Delay of care cited in death
February 02, 2009 by Gwendolyn Richards, Calgary Herald
Calgary’s lack of hyperbaric chamber failed fire victim: The third victim of a house fire last week would have had a fighting chance if Calgary hospitals had a hyperbaric chamber, her mother said Sunday. Tiffany Cox, 19, died Friday after several days in an Edmonton hospital receiving hyperbaric treatment, which uses an oxygen-rich environment to combat the effects of smoke inhalation. Amid plans to commemorate Tiffany’s life later this week, Cox’s mother is asking why none of Calgary’s hospitals are equipped with the technology.
Tiffany Cox waited more than 14 hours for treatment because no Calgary hospital has a hyperbaric chamber.
Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald
“Because we didn’t have a chamber here, we lost our daughter,” Mitzi Halliday said. Mitzi said the delay to get her daughter into hyperbaric treatment was upwards of 14 hours — precious time that could have made a difference.”They (officials in Edmonton) said if we had one here, her chances would have been much better.” Health Minister Ron Liepert said Saturday it would be “ideal” to have a hyperbaric chamber in Calgary, but there hasn’t been enough funding to put the specialized equipment in all hospitals. On her last night, Tiffany called her parents — a phone call they are both grateful for. “The last words I said to her was I loved her. That was a blessing,” Ernie Halliday said. Cox had shown no signs of recovery following the fire that broke out early Monday morning in the northwest basement suite where she lived for more than a year, Mitzi said. She remained in a coma for her four days in hospital. Two others staying in the suite that night– Jonathan St. Pierre, 19, and Colleen Mantei, 23 — died earlier in the week from their injuries. A fourth person is still in hospital in Edmonton. Cox, a nanny, loved children and was looking forward to one day starting a family of her own, Mitzi said. “We’ve donated her organs and we’re trying to find some comfort in the fact we’re saving other children on behalf of her,” she said. Family from here and Saskatchewan descended on the Misericordia Community Hospital in Edmonton to rally around Mitzi, her husband Ernie Halliday and Tiffany’s three sisters. About 40 in all, sleeping on floors at times, kept a rotating bedside vigil for the young woman. The family is grateful for the care and compassion of the doctors and staff at the hospital. “They made every accommodation for us,” said Ernie. “It was a very tough week and they made it a lot easier to deal with. I just couldn’t believe the love and compassion they put forward.” Ernie said the family is also extremely thankful to the firefighters and paramedics who brought the four out of the suite and gave them immediate medical care. “Tiffany’s heart stopped for 15 minutes and they brought her back to life. They gave us some extra time with her. We can’t thank them enough for the extra time they gave us,” Ernie said. He added he knows the fire — one of the worst in the city’s history — was difficult for fire crews as well, and hopes they know their actions are appreciated. The fire, which started when a space heater ignited materials in the living room, would have blocked the only door exit, Mitzi said. She said she told Tiffany she was worried about the bars on the windows
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February 3rd, 2010
Student battles to save her arms and legs
February 03, 2009 by Christi Myers
HOUSTON (KTRK) — A college student survived meningitis, a sudden sickness that often ends in death, only to find herself in a new battle with flesh eating bacteria. In November, Jamie Schanbaum contracted bacterial meningitis. The University of Texas at Austin student had a severe infection and her body almost shut down. Jamie’s mother Patsy Schanbaum said, “People were coming in and saying, ‘We’re amazed that she’s alive.’” Jamie survived, but she developed a rare complication. Loss of blood flow had allowed flesh eating bacteria to attack her arms and legs. “My hands were cold and really heavy,” Jamie recalled. Dr. Peter Lin, Baylor vascular surgery chief, explained, “Most people don’t survive from this dramatic complication.” Jamie was now in a new battle to save her arms and legs. Doctors recommended amputating her legs above the knee and both hands. “(She was) perfectly fine one day and the next day facing all these horrible decisions,” Patsy said. “It’s hard to be here,” Jamie said. “I wish I was there. I wish I was in school.” Her mother brought her to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Houston where she has received at least 41 treatments in a hyperbaric chamber. The chamber helps Jamie by giving her concentrated oxygen. That can help her wounds to heal and stimulates new skin to grow. For two hours she lies in a glass tube, hoping the wound treatment works. Her blackened skin is already regenerating, and her skin shows red where it’s new skin that’s still changing color. “This was very severe necrosis and with daily therapy you can see this area has grown new skin,” Dr. Lin said. “The doctor in Austin has proposed amputating above the knee. … Now her skin has completely grown (there).” Jamie’s having daily wound care and antibiotics, and she had surgery to improve blood flow. “One of her pills I never would have thought of her taking is Viagra, because it helps with the blood flow in her hands,” Patsy explained. Jamie may still needs some amputations, but she’s preparing for that. Patsy said, “People with prostheses live incredible lives.” Jamie’s doctors say they’ll continue the treatments as long as they’re helping. In Austin, her professors and classmates received antibiotics as a precaution. A meningitis vaccine is recommended for college students, but is not required
Posted in Infections, News | Comments Off
February 9th, 2010
Oxygen therapy helps healing
02/09/2009 By: Marcie Fraser
For most people who have a cut, it heals on its own. But when you’re dealing with a larger wound, a state of the art oxygen therapy is available to help it heal faster. It sounds like a command for a submarine dive, and it looks like one too. But this capsule is not going anywhere. It’s a hyperbaric oxygen chamber which is used to help heal severe wounds.”Inside the chamber we increase that pressure to about two and half times that it would naturally be at sea level,” said Guthrie. Through this monitor you can see patients getting treatment; they’re hooded up breathing 100% oxygen. “What that allows the body to do is dissolve a tremendous amount of whatever gas you breath in your blood stream and in our case, we have patients breath pure oxygen, so the term comes out hyperbaric oxygen therapy,” said Dr. Steven Guthrie, Seton Health’s Medical Director.
Posted in Anti-Aging, News | Comments Off
February 23rd, 2010
Hyperbaric chamber may hold key to repairing damaged livers
February 23, 2009 by James Glossop/The Times
An experiment to see if alcoholic liver damage can be repaired by treatment in a hyperbaric chamber – more commonly used for divers with the bends – starts next month. The possibilities surrounding hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), which is used in Russia to help to speed alcoholic detoxification, come at a time when Scotland faces increasingly gloomy figures over its alcohol problem. Yesterday it was revealed that the Scots are the eighth heaviest drinkers in the world. Now patients from Castle Craig Hospital, a private detoxification centre near Peebles, are to participate in a pilot study run by doctors from the University of Edinburgh, which will seek to establish whether stem cells are mobilised by HBOT and if there is a corresponding improvement in liver function. Research in Russia, where hyperbaric chambers have been employed for 15 years to treat people with alcohol problems, has shown that their use cuts in half the time needed for alcohol detoxification. This will be the first time HBOT has been trialled for the treatment of alcohol-related illness in Britain. Currently, the only “curative” treatment for cirrhosis of the liver is transplantation but due to donor shortages this is not available to most patients. There is also continuing controversy about providing patients who are addicted to alcohol with new livers. The study has gained ethical approval and will focus on 20 volunteers from inpatients at Castle Craig, one of the UK’s largest addiction centres, where an 18-seater hyperbaric chamber has been built, costing £250,000. Participants will have a total of 20 sessions of two hours of hyperbaric oxygen, with blood samples taken from them during the course of treatment. Koen Terra, 37, a patient at Castle Craig since October, said yesterday he had already had about 20 sessions in the hyperbaric chamber and was pleased to take part in the experiment. “In the beginning, in the chamber, you get a rest in your whole body,” he said. Mr Terra, 37, a chef from Amsterdam who has battled alcohol problems for 20 years, said he had a longstanding wound on his leg which had refused to heal. After sessions in the chamber, it was now getting better. “It seems to be promoting healing in your whole body,” he said. He said that during the sessions in the chamber, he wore a mask and would read a book or watch TV. “It is just like being in a pressurised airplane.” Peter Hayes, Professor of Hepatology at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary who is leading the trial, said: “Most ways of increasing stem cells are very complicated. The beauty of this approach is its simplicity. We have to do the study first before getting carried away.
Posted in Drug & Alcohol Addiction, News, liver damage | Comments Off
March 5th, 2010
Hyperbaric Treatment Saves Local Man’s Leg
March 5, 2009
High Pressure Oxygen Device Helps Heal Chronic Wounds, Doctors Say. BOSTON — Doctors have been using hyperbaric treatments to treat fire victims and scuba divers for years. But as NewsCenter 5′s Rhondella Richardson reported Thursday, it’s now being used to treat more than a dozen medical conditions. Inside three glass cylinders at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, something remarkable is happening to patients. “I think it can save peoples lives,” said Dr. Daniel Deschler, director of the Norman Knight Center for Hyperbaric Medicine. The hyberbaric chambers pump out 100 percent pure oxygen to patients. For years, the therapy has been used to treat carbon monoxide poisoning, smoke inhalation and sick scuba divers. But doctors are now using it to treat more than a dozen medical conditions, such as chronic open wounds related to diabetes and vascular problems. “It speeds and also allows recovery to occur when it may not otherwise occur,” said Deschler. Tom Dinges, of Weymouth, was sent to the hyperbaric medicine center at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary after he suffered a blood clot following open heart surgery. “They thought they’d have to amputate the leg at some point,” Dinges said. But 30 hyperbaric treatments saved Dinges’ left leg. According to Deschler, the therapy helped dying tissue regain its healing blood supply. Dinges could not believe the difference. “About every 7 to 10 days you could see some improvement,” Dinges said. Five months after treatment, Dinges life is getting to normal. He wants others to know that hyperbaric therapy could be an option for them. “Know more about it. Educate yourself about it,” he said
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January 9th, 2010
Humans outliving their eyeballs
January 09, 2009
AUSTRALIAN scientists are looking for ways to slow the natural deterioration of human vision, as people are now living beyond the shelf-life of their eyeballs. At birth, a human eyeball has its one-off allotment of about 150 million light-catching “photoreceptors” and these are shed at a rate of several hundred every day. Professor Jonathan Stone says while many people still had 100 million-plus photoreceptors per eye into their 80s, for others it led to a loss of night-vision or even blindness. “The clinical evidence is the retina goes well really into your eighth decade (80 years) … we’re exploring these environmental ways of stabilising these photoreceptors into the ninth and tenth decade.” Fields of study include foods rich in antioxidants shown to help protect eyes against light damage. Oxygen also plays a role, as people undergoing treatment in oxygen-rich hyperbaric chambers can report a temporary side-effect of improved vision. Prof Stone says genetic factors play a major role in how fast the eyeball sheds its photoreceptors, but people could otherwise stem the losses by wearing sunglasses when in bright sunlight. “Knowing what I now do as a result of years of work in this field, I never go outside without my sunnies,” he says
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January 9th, 2010
Hyperbaric chamber saves shark attack victim’s hand
1/09
JUPITER, FL — He had done it hundreds of times: surfed the swell just off the south florida coast, but one day, last year, a shark set its sights on Daryl Zbar, biting and gnarling his right hand. After reconstructive surgery, his wounds weren’t healing and Daryl was facing the real possibility doctors would amputate part of his hand. Doctors put him back together thanks to a program that was almost cut from hospitals. Early one Monday morning last September surf was up and so was Jupiter resident Daryl Zbar. “I had surfed all day Saturday and Sunday with friends and then Monday, everybody is working and I had a free day,” Said Zbar. His day at the beach started–no different from the others he had spent on the waves. “Ive done it thousands of times-been doing it since I was 5,” said Zbar. Daryl bobbed in the water off Hutchinson Island on the back of his surfboard sorting out the waves, waiting for just the right one.”I got to the outside and as soon as I plopped down on my stomach and dug my right hand in to paddle, it hit me,” said Zbar. “The thing I remember most is this like [vibrating noise] and I think that was his tail flipping back and forth as he was shaking his head. It grabbed me right here [on the hand] and shredded it. I knew right away it was shark on my hand and when I pulled my hand up, I saw him he was only about that big and he let go and swam away.” Daryl survived the encounter, but when he lifted his hand from the water his thumb was dangling like a flap. He caught the next wave into the beach and a fisherman rushed him to the hospital. “It was pretty severe,” said Dr. David Rankin, the surgeon on duty that day,”I looked at the thumb under a live X-ray. It was actually almost completely amputated and detached at the joint.” Rankin did everything he could to stitch Daryl up, but the tissue on his hand had been ripped to shreds by the shark’s fierce tug and jagged teeth. Daryl would need intense therapy to avoid amputation. The healing really began for Daryl Zbar here in a hyperbaric chamber at St. Marys Medical Center. The folks who run the chamber say it simulates the pressure of a submarine. That pressure compresses Oxygen, infusing it into the blood stream in a way that helps heal wounds. ”The increase oxygen levels in the blood act almost like an antibiotic. They allow white blood cells in a regular immue system to function better and more appropriately,” said Rankin. Doctors prescribe the chamber for patients suffering from botched plastic surgery or diabetics with wounds that just won’t heal. It’s also used emergently for divers suffering from the bends. For Daryl Zbar, having hyperbarics in his backyard, meant his hand remained intact.”I think if he hadn’t had it, there was a strong possibility he would have lost his thumb,” said Rankin. Today, Daryl is undaunted, Looking forward to a fully functioning hand and a chance to return to the place he loves. “The sooner I get back in the water the better. I’ll dive, I’ll surf, I’ll fish. I may choose my days more carefully,” said Zbar. Admittedly, Daryl says he remembers the water being a bit murky that morning he went surfing with lots of bait fish running and he believes the shark mistook his hand for a small fish. He said he doesn’t need courage to return to the water–he made peace with creatures of the sea a long time ago–he said “when you go surfing you’re in their world
Posted in News, Wound Healing | Comments Off
February 20th, 2010
How area hospitals dealt with the Elkay West incident
February 20, 2009 By Jamie Lampros
OGDEN — Carbon monoxide poisoning starts with tightening in the temples and maybe a little bit of irritability, then turns to a full-blown headache, nausea and fatigue. In severe cases, the victim, starved of oxygen, gets confused and disoriented and can end up in a coma or even dead. The danger with carbon monoxide is that the gas is tasteless, invisible and odorless. When people become poisoned, many may think they have the flu. Eleven Elkay West Company employees initially went to Ogden Regional Medical Center with carbon monoxide poisoning.
The initial treatment in the emergency room is high flow oxygen for up to six hours, said Dr. Peter Clemens, clinical director at the wound and hyperbaric medical center there. If symptoms don’t subside, the patient is then taken to the hyperbaric chamber and treated for 90 minutes with higher atmospheric pressure. Patients may have to continue receiving treatments for up to three weeks. “When you flood the body with oxygen, you shift and displace the carbon monoxide off of the molecule so it returns to normal,” Clemens said. Garrett Emery, emergency room physician at Davis Hospital and Medical Center in Layton, said 19 Elkay West employees were initially being treated there. “All of our patients had mild to moderate symptoms, such as headache and nausea, and some had some dizziness as well. “None of them were confused, which was good, because that would have been severe and we would have had to move them over to our hyperbaric chamber.” Emery said the patients were being treated with oxygen masks for up to two hours, and blood tests were being performed. “We ended up with a high patient flow, and our resources here at the hospital really pulled it together in an extremely organized manner,” he said. Chris Dallin, McKay-Dee Hospital Center public relations manager, said the emergency room there had treated 16 Elkay West employees. “We are still assessing them and are treating them with oxygen as well. Everyone here has been stabilized.” Dallin said where patients are taken for treatment depends on where they want to be treated. Emery also said it depends on hospitals’ patient load and staffing. “When EMS calls in and says they have so many patients they want to transport, I have to decide whether we can handle that load of patients,” he said. “We can accept so many, based on our resources. Today, I felt like we could handle the load they wanted to transport to our hospital.” Clemens said it’s important to know the signs and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning so a person can get help as quickly as possible. “First of all, get out of the environment. If you’re in an enclosed area and you start getting symptoms, there’s a good indication you’ve got carbon monoxide poisoning.” Clemens said wood-burning stoves and hibachi grills used indoors, as well as a leaky furnace, can all lead to poisoning. “Even heavy cigarette smokers can have carbon monoxide levels in their blood, and so can people traveling in heavy traffic,” he said. “If you are in heavy traffic on the freeway and you come home with a headache and a little bit of irritability, you could have a little carbon monoxide poisoning.” About 3,500 people in the U.S. die from carbon monoxide poisoning each year, Clemens said. “Of those, more than half are suicides and the other half are accidental overdoses.
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May 9th, 2010
Hyperbaric Therapy Promises To Speed Up Healing
Mar 25, 2009
The Chambers Are Used For A Number Of Conditions, Including Anti-Aging
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) was initially used to treat divers suffering with decompression sickness, but is gaining popularity in treating some medical conditions, such as circulatory problems, infections and wounds. The chamber releases 100 % oxygen to damaged tissues. According to the Beverly Hills Center for Hyperbaric Medicine, the oxygen then allows the body to heal itself naturally. Other conditions treated by HBOT are: sports injuries, anti-aging, asthma, allergies and Lyme Disease, the Malibu Hyperbaric Medicine Center said. To find out more about the chambers and the treatment, click on related links or call the Beverly Hills Center for Hyperbaric Medicine at: (310) 551-1375. They are located at: 1125 S Beverly Dr # 405: Los Angeles, CA 90035
Posted in Anti-Aging, Lyme Disease, News, Sports Injuries, Wound Healing, heart Disease/ heart attack/Cardiovascular | Comments Off
June 19th, 2009
Lifting the darkness
19 June 2009 Julian Cribb
With modern life expectancy increasing, so is the problem of whether our eyesight can indeed last a lifetime. People take it for granted their teeth can be repaired as they age. Hearing can be enhanced electronically. Cosmetic surgery may disguise the external ravages of time. Transplant surgery can replace heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. But when the eye’s light-sensitive membrane, the retina, fails there seems little you can do about it – and millions end their lives in darkness. Until now. It may soon be possible to forestall the failure of eyesight in old age and even to repair past damage to the visual system – simply, cheaply and painlessly. Scientist from The Vision Centre (the ARC Centre of Excellence in Vision Science) are reporting striking progress in four highly promising techniques for preventing vision loss and restoring damaged sight, using simple therapies based on light, diet and oxygen. These involve controlling the amount of light received by the eye earlier in life, eating a diet high in healing antioxidants, and repairing damaged eye cells using near-infra-red light or short pulses of oxygen. Their targets are three major diseases: age-related macular degeneration (AMD) which is the most common cause of blindness in old age, age-related degeneration of the retina and retinitis pigmentosa which causes blindness in much younger people. The latter affects one person in every four thousand, sometimes from childhood. AMD affects one person in five, and retinal degeneration affects everyone through the gradual loss of ‘rods’, the light sensing cells especially important for vision in low light. The age-related loss of retinal function is a growing problem, says the Vision Centre’s Professor Jonathan Stone, because the human lifespan is increasing; more and more people are surviving into their 80’s and 90’s, decades when these conditions can strike. “We lose photoreceptors from our retinas throughout life, and the challenge is to understand the factors which accelerate the loss – and others which can be mobilised to slow the loss. In our animal models, one thing that really causes damage is light itself – the cumulative damage from sunlight or ordinary bright lights clearly regulates the state of the retina in late adulthood.” The simple step of restricting light greatly extends retinal life in these models, he says. “This point must be tested rigorously, but there is no reason to expect the human eye to be immune to the same regulation, especially of the last decades of a long life.” “That’s why I wear dark glasses whenever I go outdoors now,” Prof. Stone says. “Furthermore there is evidence from these models that the use of antioxidants will also help stabilise the damage sustained from overexposure to light, and clinical trials have begun.” For patients suffering retinitis pigmentosa, which can blind people early in life, studies have revealed the damage is twofold – the death of vision cells, and the damage sustained by surviving vision cells. “We now believe it is possible to de-stress the surviving vision cells by restricting the amount of light they receive.” In both cases, Prof Stone considers it will be possible to develop a simple guide that will enable people to control their light exposure through their lives. “Light restriction is a simple remedy, which is what we are after, as people can implement it very easily and manage their own condition. This applies particularly to retinitis pigmentosa sufferers. We seek to provide them with a well-tested protocol, to enable the sufferer to control the rate at which their vision deteriorates – or even to decide to totally protect the vision of one eye so it can be used later in life.” Exactly why our vision cells deteriorate with age is not yet known for sure, but there is evidence that damage to their genes caused by oxygen free radicals plays an important role – making antioxidants a possible part of the solution, along with the prevention of further damage. The direct cause of age-related macular degeneration is not known, Prof. Stone says, but smoking is a major risk factor and changes in immune-system genes have been linked to the condition. The disease occurs through the progressive destruction of rods and cones – the eye cells which detect the occurrence and wavelength of light – in the macula, the area of the retina essential for sharp vision. It appears to be driven by an auto-immune response – and so can be controlled by anti-inflammatory treatment. Research by Professor Silvia Bisti of The Vision Centre and University of L’Aquila, Italy, has found the herb saffron taken orally to have remarkable effects on the genes which regulate the performance of the eye’s key vision cells. Prof. Bisti has shown the golden culinary herb made from crocus flowers not only protects mammalian vision cells from damage. So far several hundred changes in gene regulation have been observed in the vision cells due to saffron – but sorting out which of these are key to preventing disease is a major challenge. A clinical trial now taking place in Rome is testing the promise that it may also act to slow and possibly even reverse the course of blinding diseases such as AMD and retinitis pigmentosa. Preliminary data encourage us to hope that the effect will be robust, but the trial is rigorous and (strange description for a trial on vision) is double-blind, she says. “We think we are succeeding in stabilising the condition and maybe even improving it somewhat. We will know more when the results are in later this year,” she says. Saffron is a traditional crop in Italy’s mountainous Abruzzo country, where fields of crocuses deck the landscape. It was already well-known as an anti-oxidant, although no-one had previously explored its effects on eyesight. “The point about saffron is that it is completely safe and harmless. It has been used in cooking and medicine since Roman times, at least three thousand years,” Silvia says. “But saffron is not simply an anti-oxidant. It seems to possess a number of other properties which are protective to vision,” she adds. “For example it appears to affect genes which regulate the fatty acid content of the cell membrane, and this makes the vision cells tougher and more resilient. Secondly we have shown in animal models that a saffron diet will protect the eye from the damaging effects of bright light – something we all are vulnerable to whenever we go out in the sun.” At the same time, Dr Krisztina Valter’s Vision Centre team is producing world-first evidence that eyesight damage caused by exposure to very bright light can be repaired or even prevented with doses of near-infra-red light. “It has been known for some time that infra-red light, at certain wavelengths, can promote healing of various body cells. We decided to carry out a series of experiments to see if it could restore or prevent damage to vision cells that have been exposed to very bright light,” she explains. “When an eye cell has been damaged by overexposure to light it usually dies from stress caused by free radicals – but when the cells are stimulated with IR light, they appear to recover significantly and to withstand future damage much better,” she says. “This is the kind of damage which could happen to people when their eyes are exposed to excessive light, especially those who live constantly in very bright environments or whose work exposes them to intense lighting. This could cause significant eye damage.” Experimental results, carried out in rats, were dramatic – a few minutes exposure to infra-red light at a wavelength of 670 nanometres reduced the amount of eye damage sustained on a typical sunny day significantly. Furthermore it appeared to reduce damage when treatment was given before, during and even after exposure to light. Says Krisztina: “This provides encouraging support for a view that infra-red light can possibly be used to treat people who have suffered from over-exposure to very bright light – or those whose work and living environment exposes them to excessive light over a lifetime and who may be at risk of vision problems due to macular degeneration and other conditions.” Clinical trials of the technique are planned to begin shortly. The discovery that near infra-red light assists the body’s healing processes was made by astronauts in space tending plants grown under infra-red lighting, she says. “In space wounds heal very slowly, but the astronauts tending plants found small wounds on their hands healed much more quickly,” she says. Because the human body consists largely of water, it absorbs most of the spectrum of light. However at wavelengths between 600-1000 nanometres – the near infra-red – specific molecules are able to capture the light and can initiate beneficial changes in certain body cells.. “We believe that what is happening is that the light increases the activity of key enzymes in the body’s cells, which make more energy available to the cell. When an eye cell has been damaged by overexposure to light it usually dies from oxygen stress caused by free radicals – but when the cells are stimulated with IR light, they appear to stand up to the damage much better.” Dr Valter has also shown that IR treatment also reduces the inflammation that can occur within the eye following overexposure to very bright light. This is important for preventing damage in cases where people know they will be exposed to very bright light – for example eye surgery or examination, or use of bright sources of light. “It seems to assist the healing of the retina and may be able to prevent long-term damage after exposure to excessive light, such as looking straight into welding arcs, sun-gazing, or accidental laser light injury. Our work so far suggests that, for all of these people, infra-red treatment could be protective.” One day, the team hopes, it may be possible to hold a wand which emits near-IR light over the eye for a few minutes and so repair or prevent vision damage. The process is known as photobiomodulation, the manipulation of the body’s natural responses through the application of light. Like light restriction and dietary supplements, it promises to be easy and painless to administer. Next, there is also promising evidence that loss of vision can be reduced or even reversed by a short-term exposure to high levels of oxygen, says Professor Stone. This can be carried out in a high-pressure chamber (like that used by divers) with an enriched oxygen atmosphere. While oxidative damage is a major cause of the loss of our vision cells, saturating the eyes with oxygen for a very short time in a hyperbaric chamber can cause vision to improve. “For short periods of time oxygen acts as a tonic for the photoreceptors in the eye, but for longer periods it is a toxin. We are investigating this.” While this technique requires more expensive equipment, it is nevertheless simple and pain-free. Prof. Stone says that the combination of several of these mild treatments may for the first time offer humanity a way to restore or prevent failing eyesight in age. “They are all simple, convenient and painless remedies to administer, especially light restriction and dietary approaches. Our aim is to develop straightforward advice that will help people to adopt them as part of their daily lives.” The director of The Vision Centre Professor Trevor Lamb says the techniques in preventing or repairing vision loss offer new hope for treating conditions that have plagued humanity throughout its existence and still affect billions worldwide. “We’ve learned to care for our teeth so we still have them in old age. We are learning to do the same for our hearts and arteries. Now it’s time to do likewise for our vision. These new techniques offer the prospect of real improvement in quality of life for countless people, as well as reducing the economic costs of vision loss. The fact that they are capable of being delivered through local healthcare services or even self-administered is a major advance when compared with far more costly medical interventions and drug-based therapies. This is an example of what can be achieved when you bring the very best minds and scientific research to bear on a challenge.”
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July 2nd, 2009
Hyperbaric for hyper healing
July 2, 2009 Bruce Fessier • The Desert Sun •
The image of Michael Jackson sleeping in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber entered my mind as I crawled into a clear cylinder in an oh-so-becoming blue hospital gown at Rancho Mirage Hyperbarics. And that was before Jackson died last Thursday. Since then, we’ve learned that a photo of Jackson in a hyperbaric chamber was given to the National Enquirer by a Jackson publicist on the condition that they use the word “bizarre” to describe it. That was 20 years ago. Today, hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy (HBOT) is not only accepted in mainstream medicine, it’s a growth industry that could reduce hospital costs for patients and insurance companies. The Food and Drug Administration approves it and Medicare will pay for it to treat 14 medical conditions. HBOT.com says the therapy comes with minor risks, “like all medical treatments.” But hyperbaric oxygen chambers are now tools of the trade in professional sports such as football, allowing players to heal faster from the bumps and bruises of a tough game. It’s also used by Hollywood actors to get back in front of the cameras after plastic surgery. Doctors sometimes treat patients in-office with compressed medical-grade air delivered through masks. That offers similar healing qualities, but doesn’t have HBOT’s capability of depressing patients to the depths of a monoplace hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Local doctors say Rancho Mirage Hyperbarics is the only free-standing clinic in the desert with a monoplace (or single person) hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Businessman Bill Hubble founded it after moving to the desert from northern Nevada, where his late wife used a hyperbaric chamber for her lupus. HBOT improved her clarity of thought and energy level, he said, so he opened at the Mirage Center in Rancho Mirage two days after 9/11. So, in the name of science, I thought I’d see if it would improve my clarity and energy. It’s also said to lessen migraine pain, which I often experience. The normally cautious Cochrane Collaboration medical research team says, “We found some weak evidence to suggest that HBOT helps people with acute migraine headaches. (It) may help people with cluster headaches
Posted in Anti-Aging, Sports Injuries | Comments Off
July 6th, 2009
Controversial treatment helping baby in fight against cerebral palsy
July 6, 2009 By Gail Robertson , The Windsor Star
The McCann family is on a roller-coaster ride of emotions right now, but a controversial new treatment for their daughter is providing a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. They know things must be kept in perspective without ever thinking too long or hard about the problems that still await them. “We have to live in the here and now or else we’d get overwhelmed. Before I used to react when I’d see a healthy baby and I don’t do it as often or give it much time. Hannah needs me to be functional,” says Margaret Palmer McCann. “There are fewer hills and valleys on the roller-coaster now.” Baby Hannah, at 15 months old, has cerebral palsy. She is unable to hold up her neck, she must be fed through a tube in her stomach and she has seizures. But since a trip to Tobermory earlier in the summer for hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), a new treatment for CP patients, Hannah has changed. She still has seizures, but now she is calmer and her eyes are able to move from side to side and rest in the middle. Just three months ago she was having difficulty breathing and her eyes looked mostly to the right. “She’s drooling less, which might indicate she’s swallowing better,” says Margaret, adding that she’s not gagging on her saliva as she did before. She’s also taking naps and sleeping through the night. As the skeptic in the family, Hannah’s father John McCann says he went into the HBOT treatments wanting to see proof. “I’ve now seen enough. It’s such an incremental improvement but it’s enough for me to say we need to go back.” The family spent three weeks in Tobermory in June and will return for additional treatments in mid-August, just before John heads back to his teaching job. At home, the anxious moments remain: Margaret is on a stress leave from her job as a pastoral worker at Holy Name of Mary Church. Her own health problems have increased recently and the insurance company is starting to ask questions about her return to work. As well, the couple has launched a lawsuit against medical staff and representatives of Hotel Dieu-Grace Hospital for the problems they say occurred at Hannah’s birth. “We’re hoping we win this lawsuit so we don’t have to always do fundraising,” says Margaret. She says if they are successful with their lawsuit, they will donate money from the fundraisers to other children who need to access HBOT. Finances are a problem for the family and yet, they say their faith encourages them to believe that Hannah will be looked after. On a recent trip to a wishing well, Heather asked for two wishes — one for her sister to get better and one for herself. For now, the family looks to the hyperbaric treatments for relief. The HBOT centre in Tobermory is attached to a medical clinic and has historically been used for treating divers with decompression sickness. The chamber has only this year been opened to people with cerebral palsy to undertake what’s known as anecdotal studies. OHIP covers the cost for decompression. It doesn’t cover cerebral palsy patients. The McCanns heard about the Tobermory clinic after the story about Hannah ran in The Star in April. So instead of waiting until next year to get into a chamber in Picton, they immediately booked 30 treatments. No changes at first after the initial excitement and trepidation of the treatments wore off, the family went through moments of discouragement — especially since Hannah’s seizures didn’t decrease. Midway through the treatments, it was unclear how much change they could see in Hannah’s physical movements. Now, back at their Windsor home, they have seen some positive changes — confirmed by other caregivers who hadn’t compared notes with either parent. Her eye movements are more focused, she is vocalizing her needs and she is no longer keeping her neck always turned to the right. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves giving oxygen under increased atmospheric pressure, which increases the oxygen carried in the blood plasma. The increased oxygen intake to the bloodstream causes the blood vessels to shrink and makes the blood oxygen-rich. The oxygen-rich plasma is able to run freely into constricted areas of capillary damage in the brain to promote healing. The therapy is widely used around the world for decompression sickness and severe burns, but it’s also gaining more attention for its use with stroke victims and people with cerebral palsy. Each day in Tobermory John or Margaret went on a “dive” with Hannah, who was outfitted with a space hood that pumped 100-per-cent oxygen for her to breathe while at 24 feet below sea level. The key to HBOT is that the oxygen be given in a pressurized environment. Yvette Serpellini, a parent activist who helped start the Ottawa-based HOT4CP Foundation, says she has seen major improvements in her own two-year-old daughter, although she’s discovered that some people see changes after only a few treatments and others take 100 or more. She says there were three studies from the 1950s in China, Brazil and Canada in which oxygen therapy had been used on premature babies. “But they didn’t use atmospheric pressure and they blinded them. They used just pure oxygen,” say Serpellini. Studies were halted after that. Since then she says HBOT has been conducted on thousands of people, mainly in private clinics. Her daughter has had 170 treatments in clinics in England and Florida and soon will visit the newly opened Ottawa Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Inc. Her daughter Rebecca was described as floppy from the neck to the hips and spastic from the hips to the toes. The private clinic in Ottawa is operated by Dr. Uday Chadha, formerly the chief of neonatology and director of special care nursery at the Ottawa Hospital, Civic Site. Every CP child The intent and mission of the clinic is to treat all children with cerebral palsy, regardless of their needs. Currently HBOT is available to relatively few people and often it’s only those with the financial resources who can afford it. Margaret says that without the generosity of Windsor and Essex County people they would never have been able to go to Tobermory. They raised about $10,000 in a comedy night fundraiser and through private donations. The therapy is not covered by OHIP, so it cost the McCanns $3,600 for the treatments plus their accommodations, which ran about $1,000 a week. OHIP coverage of HBOT has not been extended to CP patients, because there’s no formal, documented study accepted by the medical establishment that shows the therapy will improve their quality of life. Serpellini says evidence abounds that the therapy works on people with CP. She’s concerned money may be at the root of OHIP’s reluctance. Dr. George Harpur, director of the hyperbaric facility in Tobermory, says a decision was made to open the chamber for children with CP after parents began calling to ask about access. “There’s been growing public interest. We initially didn’t have any idea of how widespread this use was. Then when we began doing exploration we found it was widely promoted and used in Great Britain, the U.S., Brazil and China. “The biggest problem is lack of a scientific study.” Fight for money Harpur says he tried to get details on studies, but often people are tight-lipped. “It has to do with competition around funding and being the ones who produce results,” he says. “We decided we had to begin to treat some people at cost . . . to gain experience as to what’s going on. Does this really do anything?. . . we want to answer that,” he says, as he sits in his clinic office casually dressed in summer shorts and shirt. Along with the births, cuts, back problems and other issues that come up as a general practitioner, he now has become very involved with children with CP who come to the chamber. He says the administration of oxygen is no longer really considered a medical act, hence the widespread number of private clinics being opened. “It’s become a first aid act,” he says. The chambers are regulated by the Ministry of Consumer and Corporate Affairs. It’s a messy business for parents, says Harpur. “I’d hate to be in their shoes. They need some good answers. And as we look at the shortage of rural physicians we need this fuss and bother like we need a hole in the head. But we saw the need was there and people are looking for answers. So we decided to gear up and go in that directions.” Harpur has been a physician at the clinic for 25 years and involved with hyperbaric oxygen therapy since 1965 as a diver. “It is a remarkably safe form of treatment . . . but you also want to do what’s reasonable. You need to make sure there’s no harm but also that there’s a reasonable chance of benefit.” Currently the Tobermory clinic is doing “open treatment” to gain experience and compile anecdotal evidence about HBOT and CP. So far 13 children have been to Tobermory with parents reporting positive changes. Kathy Brown, who was at the clinic with her 2 1/2-year-old grandson Marcus, first heard about HBOT on a TV newscast. They headed to England in February for 22 sessions and came to Tobermory from Toronto as soon as it became available. She says improvements with his speech have been noted and his hand work is getting more intricate. “But they’re not going to get proof because every child is so different. I know he’d do some of these things eventually but we didn’t expect it this quick,” says Brown, who helps with the care of Marcus while his mother continues to work. “Most of the time CP is about this fantastic brain stuck inside this broken body,” she says. With Hannah, it’s still unclear how much brain damage has occurred. For many children with CP, most of the problems are connected only to their mobility and speech. The McCanns keep working toward finding improvements for Hannah. “God did not cause her disability but he has everything to do with how we handle her disease,” says John. “I used to think I’d feel really burdened but I can not say I feel burdened. For me I only see the things she won’t be able to do.” GOING FOR A DIVE Once the door slams shut on the submarine-like chamber the air feels close and cramped quarters do not make for a very comfortable setting. It’s certainly not for anyone remotely claustrophobic. Two parents, one grandparent and three children are inside, along with one reporter and a “tender,” or attendant. Outside technician Scarlett Janusas speaks through a headphone set to make contact with everyone inside. Inside, tender Randy Perry gets everyone settled and ready. The dive is about to begin. The sensation feels like taking off in a plane and your ears begin to plug up. But you also feel warm and a bit flushed. The parents and grandmother take in all in stride. They’ve done this before so they carry on their conversations, occasionally plugging their ears and blowing. The children, Hannah McCann, Marcus Brown and Julia Meyers, sit quietly with a parent or guardian. Hannah fusses a bit but otherwise seems comfortable on her dad’s lap. “It was draining,” says John McCann, after his first few dives. “I was kind of claustrophobic. It’s like being in a small submarine.” Once at the bottom of the dive, about 24 feet below sea level, space hoods are placed on rings that go around the children’s neck prior to entering the chamber. The hoses — one to bring oxygen in and another to take out carbon dioxide — are attached to the hood. The parents breathe in less-concentrated oxygen piped into the chamber with vents clearing out the carbon dioxide. The technician outside communicates with the tender inside to make sure everyone is comfortable. After an hour at the bottom of the dive, it takes about another 10 to 15 minutes to come back up and the door of the chamber is opened. WHAT IS HBOT? HBOT works by increasing the supply of oxygen to the brain. That concentration is achieved by delivering the pure oxygen in a pressurized environment, such as a hyperbaric chamber. As the pressure increases the oxygen is forced into the bloodstream and then helps in normal cellular functions. It’s also promoted as a way to encourage healing in the brain by stimulating dormant brain cells around damaged tissue and reducing swelling. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has had a long and checkered past. In recent times the controversy seems to centre around how much good the therapy can do for brain injuries and cerebral palsy. Internet sites abound on the topic, especially highlighting the number of private clinics around the United States — a trend creeping into Canada. Rates are in the $60 to $100 an hour range, slightly higher in the United States because of the exchange rate. Many North American hospitals have HBOT chambers for decompression sickness and wounds, but do not use them to treat neurological disorders. Chambers are found at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Toronto General Hospital and other hospitals in Montreal, Ottawa, Halifax and Hamilton. There are private clinics in Vancouver and Ottawa and a chamber in Windsor has been discussed. People have also travelled to Florida to attend the Oceanic Hyperbaric Center under the care of medical doctor Dr. Richard Neubauer. Both Neubauer and Dr. Udhay Chadha of the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Ottawa Inc., were guest speakers at the International Symposium on Cerebral Palsy and the Brain Injured Child held July 23-25 in Boca Raton, Fla. Canadian hospitals do not endorse this treatment for neurological disorders but a study is being done by physicians connected with the Toronto General Hospital. In an earlier interview, Dr. Darcy Fehlings, who is working with Dr. Wayne Evans of Toronto General, says they are seeking funding to do scientific trials at three sites in Toronto/ Hamilton, Halifax and Vancouver. Once the funding is secured they will move on to subject selection. “We need to see if there is any impact on function (for people with CP) before making it openly available to people,” says Fehlings. “This is something very relevant and very current in the field of CP. There’s a lot of enthusiasm for it among parents and families. Families with funds are going to private clinics. So if it helps we need to make it more universally accessible.” Yvette Serpellini of the Ottawa-based HOT4CP Foundation says she wouldn’t want her child to be in a study in which she was not getting proper treatment. Instead, she’s continuing to support research but she’s also pushing to have more chambers available to more people. She is now on the board of an international society, set up by Neubauer, to oversee hyperbaric oxygen therapy and its use in treating things like cerebral palsy
Posted in Cerebral Palsy, News | Comments Off
May 10th, 2010
Therapies to Soothe All Four Legs
Published: May 9, 2010
By SARAH MASLIN NIR
An underwater treadmill at Fair Hill Equine Therapy Center offers a low-impact workout. It is just one of the alternative therapies with which racehorses are plied to keep them happy, healthy and, hopefully, fast. The popularity of alternative medicine among humans and the sophistication of sports medicine are reflected in the barn, according to trainers, veterinarians, riders and breeders. Stricter rules about which drugs are permissible for horses, and advances in drug-testing methods may also have increased the use of alternative treatments. “We would like what’s best for the horse, however we get there isn’t the point,” said Kathleen M. Anderson, a veterinarian and an equine acupuncturist at Equine Veterinary Care. The clinic is at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., a complex of more than a dozen racing barns about 50 miles from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, where the Preakness Stakes will be run Saturday. The center is most notable for being a home of Barbaro, the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner who broke down in the Preakness. “I think people are recognizing that the vet stuff is fabulous,” said Hali Jones, an animal communicator in Carmel, Calif., whose work was chronicled in Jane Smiley’s book, “A Year at the Races.” “But there must be something less invasive, maybe better.” Kathleen Rush, who breeds racehorses on her Two Sisters’ Farm Inc. in Coatesville, Pa., has used telepaths for 20 years, even though she has had her doubts. “You have a racehorse that isn’t really going along great, and you do all the diagnostics, but you can’t tell why,” she said. “It gets very frustrating.” When she is at her wits’ end, she sometimes consults Nedda Wittels, an animal communicator about 250 miles away in Simsbury, Conn. “I speak with them telepathically,” said Wittels, who predominately practices over the phone. “I can do that from anywhere in the world, it doesn’t matter where I am.” She added, “Usually by the time they get to me, their skepticism is tempered by their need.” Some remedies found at Fair Hill are horse-size versions of the same cutting-edge sports therapy technology used by top human athletes. The Fair Hill Equine Therapy Center has a hyperbaric oxygen chamber and devices that deliver electromagnetic pulses, sound waves, infrared heat and more, all thought to help mend injuries faster. There is also an underwater treadmill where horses stride through water for a low-impact workout while watched by two attendants — one to hold them in place, the other to catch droppings. As a 4-year-old bay filly peered out with one eye through the tiny round window in the white hyperbaric oxygen chamber, Bruce Jackson, a trainer who runs the center, monitored the level of pure oxygen pumping in. When the chamber was full, the filly would be breathing around 10 to 12 times the amount of oxygen in normal air, he said, which would hypersaturate her blood, healing wear and tear on her muscles faster. Inside the pressurized chamber, the filly would feel as if she was “at the bottom of a swimming pool,” he said. Some high-tech treatments are modern updates on practices long used by horsemen, like Jackson’s cold saltwater spa, a Jacuzzi kept just above freezing. Horses stand in it for up to 15 minutes to relieve swelling. Jackson said it was a lot like standing them in the sea, a longtime practice among horsemen in Chichester on the South Coast of England, where he grew up. Lisa and David Figueroa, who run a small training business, use a complement of ancient and herbal remedies along with traditional medicine. On a bright morning in early April at the Fair Hill center, the couple was out gathering dandelions from the roadside to feed to their horses. The plant is thought to cleanse the liver. When Lisa Figueroa comes across a pebble of quartz — a stone some believe has healing powers — she pockets it to later place on the windowsill of one of her horses’ stalls. “People think you’re kooky or something,” said David Figueroa, who recently moved the couple’s business to Saratoga, N.Y. His wife added: “Humans have all these physical therapies. Why not horses?” Not all horsemen have jumped on the bandwagon. Alex Brown, an exercise rider and a contributor to The New York Times’s horse racing blog, said he was concerned about the use of alternative therapies “at the cost of more rational diagnostic tools.” Anderson, the veterinarian, who is studying to become an equine chiropractor, echoed his worry. “The balance is what we need to find,” she said. In the old-boys’ club of racehorse trainers, few use, or at least admit to using the more “out there” methods like telepaths or equine reiki, a type of Japanese energy healing, Brown said. Even so, formerly marginalized treatments like acupuncture and massage are nearly standard in many horses’ training regimens now. The litany of treatments is expensive, but so are racehorses, and an injured or poorly running animal will not earn its keep. Many trainers spare no expense on their horses’ good health. Jackson said a soak in the saltwater Jacuzzi cost $85, a 5- to 25-minute spin on the aqua treadmill was $50 and a half-hour session in the hyperbaric oxygen chamber was $300. Nevertheless, it can be booked with 10 to 12 horses a day, Jackson said. An in-person consultation with Jones, the animal communicator, is $500, and she said her business was growing. With new treatments cropping up all the time, many are as yet not regulated, a potential danger to the horses. Figueroa drew the line at energy healing when she saw a practitioner roughly manipulate a racehorse’s limbs. “Horses are as delicate as they are strong,” she said. “The person that we saw was absolutely a quack.”
Posted in HBOT for Animals, News | Comments Off
May 10th, 2010
Sacramento to host the 1st Neuro-Recovery and Health Conference of Northern California
April 30, 2010 (MMD Newswire) — 1981 San Francisco 49er Super Bowl champion George Visger and traumatic brain injury survivor will speak at the first annual Neuro-Recovery and Health Conference of Northern California (www.healingsacramento.com), which will be held on June 12th at William Jessup University in Rocklin. George Visger has been getting hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) at the Hyperbaric Oxygen Clinic of Sacramento (www.hbot.info). Fellow athlete, “The California Kid” Urijah Faber will also relate his experience using HBOT to treat his injuries in the ring. They will share the stage with Rashid A. Buttar, DO, the physician who treated Redskins cheerleader” Desiree Jennings, after she developed brain damage from the H1N1 flu vaccine. And Kenneth Stoller, Medical Director of the Hyperbaric Oxygen Clinic of Sacramento, who will discuss using HBOT to treat Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Autism. Kurt Woeller, D.O. will give an Introduction to Autism recovery, and special guest speaker Ally Hilfiger (daughter of Tommy) will speak about coping with Lyme disease. Never before have Athletes, Specialized Doctors, and Advocates come together to create an educational seminar to address cutting edge solutions to issues left in the medical dark ages.
Posted in Anti-Aging, Brain & Head Injuries/Concussions/TBI, Cerebral Palsy, Drug & Alcohol Addiction, News, Sports Injuries | Comments Off
March 10th, 2009
Putting pressure on the healing process
March 10, 2009 By Paul Drewes
KALIHI (KHNL) – When you think of hyperbaric chambers, you probably think of scuba divers with the bends. But nowadays, these chambers are being used for dozens of treatments that have nothing to do with the water, and everything to do with healing. A trip to the oral surgeon was what brought Jane Shannon to the hyperbaric chamber for her first treatment. “I had surgery, and had no need for pain medications, no swelling even with stitches all thru my gums. I was even able to sleep at night,” said the Hawaii Kai resident. But Shannon also discovered something else after her hour long sessions in the chambers. Her hands weren’t as numb as they used to be. “I have multiple sclerosis, I noticed from the first treatment that my fingertips were getting more feeling” Now she make hyperbaric treatment a regular part of her regimen to fight the effects of MS. It is one of the approved uses of hyperbaric therapy but not one that is currently covered by health insurance. So how does it work? During treatment the chambers are pressurized down to what would be 15-45 feet underwater and pure oxygen is pumped in. That allows lots of oxygen to get to wounds and injured areas, speeding the healing process. “It creates the perfect environment for the body to kick start its own healing process,” said Helen McCracken, with the Hyperbaric Medicine Center. Its made a difference for some stroke victims, children with autism, and diabetics with wounds on their extremities. “Often times, this treatment, along with wound care can save limbs,” added McCracken. But this therapy has remained largely isolated from conventional medicine. And even a believer like Shannon isn’t holding her breath for others to realize how hyperbaric treatment has made a difference in her life. “They have no idea what it is, I would like to see people educated on what this type of therapy can do,” said Shannon. Patients typically will have between 20-40 hours of treatments, depending on the injury or condition. Only about 14 of those conditions are currently covered by insurance. For others, patients pay between $150-195 an hour for time in the hyperbaric chamber
Posted in Autism, Multiple Sclerois (MS), Stroke, diabetes | Comments Off
January 17th, 2009
Human Amniotic Fluid Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Combination with
Hyperbaric Oxygen Augment Peripheral Nerve Regeneration.
Neurochem Res. 2009 Jan 17. [Epub ahead of print] Links
Pan HC, Chin CS, Yang DY, Ho SP, Chen CJ, Hwang SM, Chang MH, Cheng FC.
Department of Neurosurgery, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
Purpose Attenuation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and associated inflammatory cell deposits rescues human amniotic fluid mesenchymal stem cells (AFS) from apoptosis. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) suppressed stimulus-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine production in blood-derived monocyte-macrophages. Herein, we evaluate the beneficial effect of hyperbaric oxygen on transplanted AFS in a sciatic nerve injury model. Methods Peripheral nerve injury was produced in Sprague-Dawley rats by crushing the left sciatic nerve using a vessel clamp. The AFS were embedded in fibrin glue and delivered to the injured site. Hyperbaric oxygen (100% oxygen, 2 ATA, 60 min/day) was administered 12 h after operation for seven consecutive days. Transplanted cell apoptosis, oxidative stress, inflammatory cell deposits and associated chemokines, pro-inflammatory cytokines, motor function, and nerve regeneration were evaluated 7 and 28 days after injury. Results Crush injury induced an inflammatory response, disrupted nerve integrity, and impaired nerve function in the sciatic nerve. However, crush injury-provoked inflammatory cytokines, deposits of inflammatory cytokines, and associated macrophage migration chemokines were attenuated in groups receiving hyperbaric oxygen but not in the AFS-only group. No significant increase in oxidative stress was observed after administration of HBO. In transplanted AFS, marked apoptosis was detected and this event was reduced by HBO treatment. Increased nerve myelination and improved motor function were observed in AFS-transplant, HBO-administrated, and AFS/HBO-combined treatment groups. Significantly, the AFS/HBO combined treatment showed the most beneficial effect. Conclusion AFS in combination with HBO augment peripheral nerve regeneration, which may involve the suppression of apoptotic death in implanted AFS and the attenuation of an inflammatory response detrimental to peripheral nerve regeneration.
Posted in Anti-Aging, Nerve regeneration, News, Stem Cells | Comments Off
January 10th, 2009
Role of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of bacterial spinal osteomyelitis.
J Neurosurg Spine. 2009 Jan;10(1):16-20. Links
Ahmed R, Severson MA, Traynelis VC.
The University of Iowa, Department of Neurosurgery, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
OBJECT: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is used as primary and/or adjunctive therapy in the treatment of various clinical conditions complicated by local hypoxia. It may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of neurosurgical infections such as spinal osteomyelitis that are associated with significant morbidity rates. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of HBO therapy in the treatment of spinal osteomyelitis. METHODS: The clinical records of patients diagnosed with spinal osteomyelitis who received HBO therapy during their treatment at the authors’ institution over the past 10 years were retrospectively reviewed. Six adult patients were identified. Four patients had recently undergone spinal surgery and secondary spinal osteomyelitis had developed. These patients received adjunctive HBO therapy due to significant comorbidities and risk factors for poor healing. RESULTS: All patients remained symptom and infection free over the subsequent follow-up period. Two patients had primary spinal osteomyelitis that had recurred despite a full course of appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Infection control was achieved after HBO therapy in 1 patient. The mean follow-up period for the study group was 2.9 years (range 5 months to 5 years). CONCLUSIONS: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy enabled infection cure in 5 of 6 patients with spinal osteomyelitis complicated by medical comorbidities or the failure of primary therapy. These results show that HBO may be a useful adjunctive therapeutic modality in the treatment of spinal osteomyelitis, particularly when there are medical comorbidities that increase the risk of poor healing. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may also be beneficial in patients with relapsing primary spinal osteomyelitis after standard therapy has failed.
Posted in Infections, News | Comments Off
January 18th, 2009
Carbon monoxide-induced cortical visual loss: treatment with hyperbaric oxygen four years later
Med Princ Pract. 2009;18(1):67-9. Epub 2008 Dec 4. Links
Senol MG, Yildiz S, Ersanli D, Uzun G, Gumus T, Narin Y, Ozkan S, Ayata A.
Department of Neurology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Haydarpasa Teaching Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
OBJECTIVE: We present a patient who developed visual loss after carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and was treated with hyperbaric oxygen. CLINICAL PRESENTATION AND INTERVENTION: A 21-year-old woman poisoned with CO (with coma lasting 4 h and carboxyhemoglobin level 46%) developed seizures and cortical blindness 3 days after poisoning. Four years later, her visual acuity was 0.2 in both eyes. An (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) scan showed reduced metabolism in the bilateral posterior temporal and occipital lobes. The patient received a total of 50 hyperbaric oxygen sessions over 3 months for visual loss and the visual acuity improved to 0.5 in both eyes. In addition, increased metabolism was detected in the brain in post-treatment PET scans. CONCLUSION: PET documented brain hypoperfusion 4 years after CO poisoning and hyperbaric oxygen therapy improved visual acuity. However, we cannot endorse routine use of hyperbaric oxygen for such patients, until results of further clinical trials demonstrate efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen in CO-induced chronic brain injury. Copyright 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.
Posted in Brain & Head Injuries/Concussions/TBI, Carbon Monoxide (CO) Poisoning, News, vision | Comments Off
May 11th, 2010
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy decreases QT dispersion in diabetic
patients.
2008 May Tohoku J Exp Med.
Kardesoglu E, Aparci M, Uzun G, Suleymanoglu S, Uz O, Onem Y, Ay H, Kucukardali Y, Ozkan S.
Department of Cardiology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Haydarpasa Teaching Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Diabetes mellitus is frequently associated with the malignant ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death. The QT dispersion is the difference between the longest and shortest QT interval calculated from the standard 12-lead electrocardiogram. The QT dispersion is suggested as an index of myocardial electrical activity. An increase in QT dispersion is associated with the malignant ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Diabetic patients receive hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy for non-healing lower extremity ulcers. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of HBO therapy on QT dispersion in diabetic patients. Thirty diabetic patients (18 male and 12 female, 59.9 +/- 10 years), who were planning to undergo ten sessions of HBO therapy in two weeks for non-healing lower extremity ulcers, were consecutively enrolled into the study. The 12-lead resting electrocardiography recordings were taken before the first HBO therapy and after the 10th HBO-therapy session. QT intervals were measured on electrocardiogram. QT intervals were corrected for heart rate by using Bazett’s formula (corrected QT [QTc] = QT/ radical R – R [seconds]). QTc dispersion was significantly decreased from 59.8 +/- 17.4 msec to 52.2 +/- 15.5 msec after ten sessions of HBO therapy (p < 0.05). However, maximum QTc, minimum QTc and mean QTc did not change significantly after HBO therapy. We have concluded that HBO therapy may reduce the risk of malignant ventricular arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death in diabetic patients when applied repetitively.
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May 11th, 2010
Hyperbaric oxygen induces endogenous neural stem cells to proliferate and differentiate in hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in neonatal rats.
Undersea Hyperb Med. 2008 Mar-Apr
Yang YJ, Wang XL, Yu XH, Wang X, Xie M, Liu CT.
Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Xiang Ya Hospital, Central South University.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Studies suggest that after brain injury, hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) is neuroprotective by stimulating cell proliferation. We examine whether HBO2 promotes neural stem cells (NSC) to proliferate and differentiate in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) rats. METHODS: Seven-day-old rat pups were subjected to unilateral carotid artery ligation followed by 2 hours of hypoxia (8% O2). HBO2 was administered (2 ATA (atmospheres absolutes), once daily for 7 days) within 3 hours after HI. The proliferating neural stem cells in the subventricular zone (SVZ) and dentate gyrus (DG) were dynamically examined by 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU)/nestin immunofluorescence. Nestin protein was detected by western blot analysis at various time points (from 6 hours to 14 days) after HI. The migrating NSC were examined by BrdU/doublecortin (DCX) immunofluorescence 7 and 14 days after HI. The phenotype of the newborn cells was identified by BrdU/beta-tubulin, BrdU/ glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and BrdU/O4 (oligodendrocyte marker) immunofluorescence. Myelin basic protein (MBP) was examined by immunohistochemistry and pathological changes of the brain tissue were detected 28 days after HI. RESULTS: In neonatal HI rats treated with HBO2, the proliferation of endogenous NSC was observed in the SVZ and DG. Cell numbers peaked 7 days after HI and proliferating NSC migrated to the cerebral cortex at 14 d after HI. Twenty-eight days after HI, an increase in newly generated neurons, oligodendrocytes and MBP was observed in the HBO2 group compared to the untreated and HI-treated rats. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that HBO2 treatment may promote neurogenesis of the endogenous NSC in neonatal HI rats, contributing to repair of the injured brain.
Posted in Anti-Aging, Brain & Head Injuries/Concussions/TBI, Brain Injured Soldiers/Veterens, Drug & Alcohol Addiction, News, Stem Cells | Comments Off
May 11th, 2008
Hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning induces tolerance against brain ischemia-reperfusion injury by upregulation of antioxidant enzymes in rats.
Brain Res. 2008 May
Li J, Liu W, Ding S, Xu W, Guan Y, Zhang JH, Sun X.
Department of Neurology, Changhai Hospital,174 Changhai Road, Shanghai 200433, PR China.
The present study examined the hypothesis that cerebral ischemic tolerance induced by hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning (HBO-PC) is associated with an increase of antioxidant enzyme activity. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (250-280 g, n=74) were divided into sham, middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 90 min, and MCAO plus HBO-PC groups. HBO-PC was conducted four times by given 100% oxygen at 2.5 atmosphere absolute (ATA), for 1 h at every 12 h interval for 2 days. At 24 h after the last HBO-PC, MCAO was performed and at 24 h after MCAO, neurological function and Nissl Staining were performed to evaluate the effect of HBO-PC. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content, activity of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px) sampled from the hippocampus, ischemic penumbra or core of cortex were measured. HBO-PC decreased mortality rate, improved neurological recovery, lessened neuronal injury, reduced the level of MDA and increased the antioxidant activity of CAT and SOD. These observations demonstrated that an upregulation of the antioxidant enzyme activity by HBO preconditioning plays an important role in the generation of tolerance against brain ischemia-reperfusion injury.
Posted in Anti-Aging, Autism, Brain & Head Injuries/Concussions/TBI, News, Stroke | Comments Off
May 11th, 2008
Cost-effectiveness and budget impact of adjunctive hyperbaric oxygen
therapy for diabetic foot ulcers.
Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 2008 Spring
Chuck AW, Hailey D, Jacobs P, Perry DC.
University of Alberta and Institute of Health Economics.
Background: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been proposed as an adjunct to standard methods of care for diabetic foot ulcers (DFU). Its use may decrease the risk of infection and lower extremity amputations (LEAs). As part of a Canadian assessment, we estimated the cost-effectiveness and budget impact of HBOT in this application.Methods: We developed a decision model comparing adjunctive HBOT with standard care alone. The population was a 65-year-old cohort with DFU. The time horizon was 12 years taken from a Ministry of Health perspective. The health states were a healed wound with or without a minor LEA, an unhealed wound with no related surgery, and a major LEA. Efficacy data were based on outcomes reported in studies included in a literature review. Cost and capacity needs for treating DFU patients in Canada were estimated using prevalence data from the literature, and cost and utilization data from government records. Results: The 12-year cost for patients receiving HBOT was CND$40,695 compared with CND$49,786 for standard care alone. Outcomes were 3.64 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) for those receiving HBOT and 3.01 QALYs for controls. Estimated cost to treat all prevalent DFU cases in Canada was CND$14.4-19.7 million/year over 4 years. If seven-person HBOT chambers were used, a further nineteen to thirty-five machines would be required nationally. Conclusions: Adjunctive HBOT for DFU is cost-effective compared with standard care. Additional HBOT capacity would be needed if it were to be adopted as the standard of care throughout Canada.
Posted in News, Wound Healing, diabetes | Comments Off
March 11th, 2008
Hyperbaric oxygen reduces tissue hypoxia and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha expression in focal cerebral ischemia.
Stroke. 2008 Mar
Sun L, Marti HH, Veltkamp R.
Department of Neurology, Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The usefulness of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) and normobaric hyperoxia in acute ischemic stroke is being reexplored because both improve outcome in experimental cerebral ischemia. However, even the basic mechanisms underlying oxygen therapy are poorly understood. We investigated the effect of both oxygen therapies on tissue hypoxia and on the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha. METHODS: Mice were subjected to filament-induced middle cerebral artery occlusion for 2 hours. Twenty-five minutes after filament introduction, mice breathed normobaric air, normobaric 100% O(2) (normobaric hyperoxia), or 100% O(2) at 3 ata (HBO) for 95 minutes. Hypoxic regions were mapped on tissue sections after preischemic infusion of the in vivo hypoxia marker EF-5. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha protein was measured after 2-hour middle cerebral artery occlusion using immunofluorescence and immunoblotting. Vascular endothelial growth factor expression was analyzed using in situ mRNA hybridization. RESULTS: Severity of ischemia did not differ among groups. HBO (35.2+/-10.4 mm(2)) significantly reduced the area of EF-5-stained hypoxic regions in focal cerebral ischemia compared with normobaric hyperoxia (46.4+/-11.2 mm(2)) and air (49.1+/-8 mm(2), P<0.05, analysis of variance). Topographically, EF-5 fluorescence was decreased in medial striatum and in cortical ischemic border areas. Immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting revealed lower hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha protein in the ischemic hemisphere of HBO-treated mice. Moreover, mRNA in situ hybridization showed lower expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in HBO and normobaric hyperoxia groups. CONCLUSIONS: Measurement of extrinsic and intrinsic markers of hypoxia revealed that HBO improves penumbral oxygenation in focal ischemia. Modification of the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha and its downstream targets may be involved in effects of HBO.
Posted in Autism, News, Stroke | Comments Off
May 11th, 2008
Neuroprotection by oxygen in acute transient focal cerebral ischemia is
dose dependent and shows superiority of hyperbaric oxygenation.
Cerebrovasc Dis. 2008
Eschenfelder CC, Krug R, Yusofi AF, Meyne JK, Herdegen T, Koch A, Zhao Y, Carl UM, Deuschl G.
Department of Neurology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany. c.eschenfelder@neurologie.uni-kiel.de
The neuroprotective effect of oxygen after acute stroke in rats has been shown previously. However, the question of optimal dosing still remains unanswered. Thus, we investigated the use of oxygen at different concentrations by either normobaric oxygenation (NBO) or hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO) at different pressures in a model of transient ischemia/reperfusion in rats. Animals underwent 90 min of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) followed by 90 min of reperfusion before oxygen treatment. Oxygen was applied either by NBO (100% O(2); 1.0 absolute atmosphere, ATA) or HBO (100% O(2); 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 or 3.0 ATA) for 1 h. Primary endpoints were infarct volume and clinical outcome measured 24 h and 7 days following the MCAO. A statistically significant and long-lasting reduction in infarct volume was seen in the HBO 2.5 ATA and 3.0 ATA groups over a period of 7 days. The reduced infarct volume was accompanied with a statistically significant improvement in clinical outcome in the high-dose oxygen-treated groups. The presented data indicate that oxygen is a highly neuroprotective molecule in transient focal cerebral ischemia in rats, when applied early and at high doses. The effect is dose dependent and shows a superiority of HBO over NBO, when the primary endpoints infarct volume reduction and clinical outcome are analyzed. These data are important for the development of new acute stroke treatment studies in humans.
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May 11th, 2008
The use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in ophthalmology.
Surv Ophthalmol. 2008 Mar-Apr
Oguz H, Sobaci G.
Department of Ophthalmology, Harran University Medical School, Sanliurfa, Turkey.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a primary or adjuvant therapeutic method used in treatment of various acute or chronic disorders. Currently, eye diseases are among the off-label use of hyperbaric oxygen. However, there is an increasing body of evidence showing its safety and efficacy in retinal artery occlusion, cystoid macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion, scleral thinning and necrosis faced after pterygium surgery, orbital rhino-cerebral mucormycosis, nonhealing corneal edema, and anterior segment ischemia. Its potential to treat some blinding disease has also been pointed out in recent studies. This article constitutes an up-to-date summary of knowledge and therapeutic use of hyperbaric oxygen, and aims to contribute understanding of current and potential use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in ophthalmology.
Posted in Anti-Aging, News, vision | Comments Off
May 11th, 2008
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy improves myocardial diastolic function in
diabetic patients.
Tohoku J Exp Med. 2008 Mar
Aparci M, Kardesoglu E, Suleymanoglu S, Uzun G, Onem Y, Uz O, Kucukardali Y, Ozkan S.
Department of Cardiology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Haydarpasa Teaching Hospital.
Myocardial diastolic dysfunction is the relaxation abnormality of ventricles that limits the diastolic filling and generally precedes diastolic heart failure. Diastolic dysfunction is a common finding in diabetes. Diabetic patients receive hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy for non-healing lower extremity ulcers, and exposure to HBO therapy is known to influence cardiovascular functions. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of HBO therapy on myocardial diastolic function in diabetic patients. Thirty diabetic patients (18 male and 12 female, 59.9 +/- 10 years old), who were planning to undergo HBO therapy, were consecutively enrolled. Myocardial diastolic function was evaluated by pulsed wave Doppler echocardiography and tissue Doppler echocardiography before the first HBO therapy and after the tenth HBO therapy session. HBO therapy improved the relaxation capability of left ventricular myocardium, which was reflected by reduction in E wave deceleration time of mitral valve inflow (286.1 +/- 65.8 msec vs 214.3 +/- 32.1 msec, p < 0.05). HBO therapy also affected favorably the diastolic filling dynamics of right ventricle, which was partially reflected by the changes in E wave peak velocity of tricuspid valve inflow (0.48 +/- 0.07 m/sec vs 0.46 +/- 0.09 m/sec, p < 0.05). Tissue Doppler parameters of mitral lateral annulus, which are better correlated with ventricular relaxation, tended to be improved after HBO therapy, but the degree of improvement was not statistically significant. In conclusion, we suggest that HBO therapy may improve the myocardial diastolic function of diabetic patients when applied repetitively.
Posted in Anti-Aging, diabetes, heart Disease/ heart attack/Cardiovascular | Comments Off
February 24th, 2007
Heart disease
Can hyperbaric oxygen be used as adjunctive heart failure therapy through the induction of endogenous heat shock proteins?
Adv Ther. 2007 Jan-Feb;24(1):106-18.
Yogaratnam JZ, Laden G, Guvendik L, Cowen M, Cale A, Griffin S.
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Castle Hill Hospital, Cottingham, United Kingdom. jeysenzy@msn.com
Heart failure (HF) is a chronic condition that is expected to increase in incidence along with increased life expectancy and an aging population. As the incidence of HF increases, the cost to national healthcare budgets is expected to run into the billions. The costs of lost productivity and increased social reliance on state support must also be considered. Recently, acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has come to be seen as the major contributing factor to HF. Although thrombolysis may restore coronary perfusion after an AMI, it may also introduce ischemic reperfusion injury (IRI). In an attempt to ameliorate sustained protein damage caused by IRI, endogenous chaperone proteins known as heat shock proteins (HSPs) are induced as a consequence of the stress of IRI. Recently, hyperbaric oxygen has been shown to induce the production of HSPs in noncardiac tissue, with a resultant protective effect. This current opinion review article suggests a possible role for hyperbaric oxygen, as a technologically modern drug, in augmenting the induction of endogenous HSPs to repair and improve the function of failing hearts that have been damaged by AMI and IRI. In addition, this simple, safe, noninvasive drug may prove useful in easing the economic burden of HF on already overextended health resources
Posted in Anti-Aging, News, heart Disease/ heart attack/Cardiovascular | Comments Off
March 15th, 2007
Effects of hyperbaric exposure with high oxygen concentration on glucose and insulin levels and skeletal muscle-fiber properties in diabetic rats
Muscle Nerve. 2007 Mar;35(3):337-43.
Yasuda K, Adachi T, Gu N, Matsumoto A, Matsunaga T, Tsujimoto G, Tsuda K, Ishihara A.
Laboratory of Metabolism, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
The effects of hyperbaric exposure with high oxygen concentration on glucose and insulin levels and skeletal muscle-fiber properties were investigated in type 2 diabetic Goto-Kakizaki rats. Five-week-old rats were exposed to a hyperbaric environment (1.25 atmospheric pressure) with a high oxygen concentration (36%) for 6 h daily. Glucose and insulin levels and properties including fiber-type distribution, cross-sectional area, and oxidative enzyme activity in the soleus muscle were examined after hyperbaric exposure for 4 weeks. The growth-related increase in glucose level was inhibited by hyperbaric exposure, and insulin also showed lower levels compared with control rats. The percentage of low-oxidative type I fibers in the muscle decreased and high-oxidative type IIA and type IIC fibers, which were not detected in the muscle of control rats, were observed after hyperbaric exposure. The oxidative enzyme activity of type I fibers in the muscle increased after hyperbaric exposure. Hyperbaric exposure with high oxygen concentration might therefore provide a new approach to improve the glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, and altered skeletal muscle metabolism that are caused by diabetes mellitus. Muscle Nerve, 2006.
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January 2nd, 2007
Early and late effects of hyperbaric oxygen treatment on oxidative stress parameters in diabetic patients
Physiol Res. 2007 Jan 2
Gürdöl F, Cimşit M, Oner-Iyidogan Y, Körpinar S, Yalçinkaya S, Koçak H.
Department of Biochemistry, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Çapa, Istanbul, Turkey. figur@istanbul.edu.tr.
Exposure to hyperbaric oxygen leads to increases in the amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are derived from a variety of sources. After the discovery that ROS can function as signalling molecules, the idea of ROS being hazardous to biological tissues has been challenged. The aim of this study was to examine the changes in oxidative stress parameters in diabetics undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) due to foot ulcers. Twenty patients who received HBOT for diabetic foot ulcers were included in the study. Blood samples were taken before HBOT and 30 min after the exit from the chamber, on the day of the first and 15th HBO sessions, and used for the determinations of malondialdehyde (MDA), 8-isoprostane and advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs). Statistical evaluations were made by the two-way ANOVA. 8-Isoprostane and AOPP levels did not alter significantly after the first HBO therapy, while both were increased on the fifteenth day (p<0.05). MDA was significantly increased only after the first HBOT, and remained unchanged on the fifteenth day. Plasma AOPP levels lowered significantly after fifteen consecutive HBOT. Decreased AOPP levels suggest that increased oxygenation of tissues due to HBO therapy may activate some endogenous factors that prevent hazardous effects of the disease itself.
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March 16th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for chronic diabetic wounds of the lower limbs–a review of the literature
Harefuah. 2007 Mar;146(3):223-7, 244-5.
Lebel D, Gortzak Y, Nyska M, Katz T, Atar D, Etzion Y.
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Soroka Medical Center, Beer Sheva, Israel.
Chronic wounds of the lower limbs are a cause of severe morbidity in diabetic patients. Low oxygen tension around the wound is one of several critical factors, which mutually enhance the progression of a chronic ulcer. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is believed to improve wound healing by enhancing oxygen tension around the wound. While conventional therapies for diabetic foot ulcer are based on scientific evidence, HBO treatment lacks evidence-based support regarding its cost effectiveness and efficacy. Recently, several publications emerged, which improve our knowledge regarding this subject. This paper briefly reviews the pathophysiology of chronic diabetic ulcers and the possible advantage of HBO therapy in this clinical setting. The article also summarizes the results of relevant publications, in which appropriate scientific measures were applied. In conclusion, there is evidence that HBO therapy reduces the need for major amputations among diabetic patients with chronic ulcers of the lower limb. HBO seems to enhance the rate of healing. Few publications with methodological defects diminish the value of these conclusions. However, there is a need for larger randomized, double blinded studies in order to validate this treatment.
Posted in Cutting-Edge Hospitals/Wound Centers, News, Wound Healing, diabetes | Comments Off
April 16th, 2007
Hyperbaric exposure with high oxygen concentration improves altered fiber types in the plantaris muscle of diabetic Goto-Kakizaki rats.
J Physiol Sci. 2007 Apr;57(2):133-6.
Matsumoto A, Nagatomo F, Yasuda K, Tsuda K, Ishihara A.
Laboratory of Neurochemistry, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8501 Japan.
Hyperbaric exposure with high oxygen concentration inhibits a growth-related increase in the glucose and insulin of diabetic rats. In this study, 5-week-old diabetic Goto-Kakizaki rats were exposed to a hyperbaric environment (1.25 atmospheric pressure) with a high oxygen concentration (36%) for 6 h daily. Fiber type distributions and oxidative enzyme activities in the fast-twitch plantaris muscle of Goto-Kakizaki rats were examined after hyperbaric exposure for 4 weeks. The percentages of high-oxidative type I and type IIA fibers increased and that of low-oxidative type IIB fibers decreased after hyperbaric exposure. Furthermore, the fiber oxidative enzyme activity increased after hyperbaric exposure, regardless of fiber type. It is concluded that altered patterns of fiber types in the plantaris muscle of diabetic rats shift toward normal, which is observed in nondiabetic rats, following hyperbaric exposure with high oxygen concentration.
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February 16th, 2007
Hydroxyurea associated leg ulcer succesfully treated with hyperbaric oxygen in a diabetic patient.
Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes. 2007 Feb;115(2):143-5.
Akinci B, Yesil S, Atabey A, Ilgezdi S.
Dokuz Eylul University, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Izmir, Turkey. baris.akinci@deu.edu.tr
Oxygen tension in healing tissues is heterogeneous. Increased oxygen mostly stimulates repair mechanisms and enhances tissue healing. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy increases blood and tissue oxygen content and may help maintain cellular integrity and function. Hydroxyurea (HU) is a cytotoxic agent, which leads to inactivation of ribonucleotide reductase, inhibition of cellular DNA synthesis, and cell death in the S phase. HU induced leg ulcers occur after use of this agent for a long time and at higher cumulative doses. Here we describe a diabetic patient with foot ulcer associated with HU treatment for polycythemia vera, who was treated successfully with hyperbaric oxygen and general wound care after discontinuation of HU. Faster improvement of leg ulcer in our patient compared to literature regarding HU withdrawal as single therapy suggests that hyperbaric oxygen may be helpful in the management of HU associated leg ulcers, especially in diabetic subjects.
Posted in Cutting-Edge Hospitals/Wound Centers, News, Wound Healing, diabetes | Comments Off
May 16th, 2007
Successful penile replantation with adjuvant hyperbaric oxygen treatment
Urology. 2007 May;69(5):983.e3-5.
Zhong Z, Dong Z, Lu Q, Li Y, Lv C, Zhu X, Zhao X, Zhang X, Morales F, Ichim TE.
Department of Urology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, China. zhaohui_zhong@yahoo.com
Penile amputation and successful replantation is very uncommon, and routine standardized procedures for dealing with this medical condition do not exist. A case of a penile amputation and successful replantation is presented. This report presents the microsurgical procedure and postop. care that led to successful engraftment and function. Of particular interest was the use of hyperbaric oxygen to accelerate the healing process. A review of the published data and future methods of increasing success of such surgical procedures is provided
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May 16th, 2007
Role of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of postoperative organ/space sternal surgical site infections
World J Surg. 2007 Aug;31(8):1702-6.
Barili F, Polvani G, Topkara VK, Dainese L, Cheema FH, Roberto M, Naliato M, Parolari A, Alamanni F, Biglioli P.
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Milan, Centro Cardiologico Monzino IRCCS, Via Parea 4, 20138, Milan, Italy. fabarili@libero.it
BACKGROUND: A prospective trial was designed to evaluate the effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy on organ/space sternal surgical site infections (SSIs) following cardiac surgery that requires sternotomy. METHODS: A total of 32 patients who developed postoperative organ/space sternal SSI were enrolled in this study from 1999 through 2005. All patients were offered HBO therapy. Group 1 included the patients who accepted and were able to undergo HBO therapy (n = 14); group 2 included patients who refused HBO therapy or had contraindications to it (n = 18). RESULTS: The two groups were well matched at baseline with comparable preoperative clinical characteristics and operative factors. Staphylococcus was the most common pathogen for both groups. The duration of infection was similar in groups 1 and 2 (31.8 7.6 vs. 29.3 5.7 days, respectively, p = 0.357). The infection relapse rate was significantly lower in group 1 (0% vs. 33.3%, p = 0.024). Moreover, the duration of intravenous antibiotic use (47.8 +/- 7.4 vs. 67.6 +/- 25.1 days, p = 0.036) and total hospital stay (52.6 +/- 9.1 vs. 73.6 +/- 24.5 days, p = 0.026) were both significantly shorter in group 1. CONCLUSION: Hyperbaric oxygen is a valuable addition to the armamentarium available to physicians for treating postoperative organ/space sternal SSI
Posted in Infections, News, Surgery/Cosmetic Surgery, Wound Healing | Comments Off
July 29th, 2007
The effect of oxygenation on the biological behaviour of tumours
Orv Hetil. 2007 Jul 29;148(30):1415-20.
Tóth J.
Országos Onkológiai Intézet Budapest Ráth György u. 7-9. 1122.
Malignant tumours often display hypoxic tissue areas where the oxygen tension is < 7 mm Hg. Studies in this field have proved that the hypoxic state boosts tumour progression and aggressive behaviour. In tissue culture experiments “in vitro” oxygenation was found to inhibit in itself the proliferation of cells of healthy tissues as well as benign and malignant tumours. It is a very important observation from oncotherapeutic point of view that in the presence of partial oxygen pressure < 2.5 mm Hg the radiosensitivity decreases (intrinsic radioresistance). Most of the anticancer drugs (cytostatics) are also ineffective in hypoxic tumours (chemoresistance). The same is true for photodynamic treatments in oxygen deficiency or hypoxia. From time to time attempts based on these experimental and clinical observations are made to use oxygenation either as an adjuvant or an independent treatment in tumour patients. The most frequent treatment forms are: inhalation of oxygen gas (hyperbaric oxygen therapy), use of oxygen saturated water either in water or drinking cure. Recent international studies unanimously confirm the beneficial effect of oxygen intake on therapy, radio- and chemosensitization. The widespread erythropoietin treatment underlines the significance of oxygenation in tumour therapy. It seems reasonable to extend the preliminary studies on the tumour inhibitory, radio- and chemosensitizing effect of oxygenation to large study populations in major medical institutes in Hungary.
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January 30th, 2007
Hyperoxia retards growth and induces apoptosis and loss of glands and blood vessels in DMBA-induced rat mammary tumors.
BMC Cancer. 2007 Jan 30;7:23.
Raa A, Stansberg C, Steen VM, Bjerkvig R, Reed RK, Stuhr LE.
Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Norway. anette.raa@biomed.uib.no <anette.raa@biomed.uib.no>
BACKGROUND: This study investigated the effects of hyperoxic treatment on growth, angiogenesis, apoptosis, general morphology and gene expression in DMBA-induced rat mammary tumors. METHODS: One group of animals was exposed to normobaric hyperoxia (1 bar, pO2 = 1.0 bar) and another group was exposed to hyperbaric hyperoxia (1.5 bar, pO2 = 1.5 bar). A third group was treated with the commonly used chemotherapeutic drug 5- Fluorouracil (5-FU), whereas animals housed under normal atmosphere (1 bar, pO2 = 0.2 bar) served as controls. All treatments were performed on day 1, 4, 7 and 10 for 90 min. Tumor growth was calculated from caliper measurements. Biological effects of the treatment, was determined by assessment of vascular morphology (immunostaining for von Willebrandt factor) and apoptosis (TUNEL staining). Detailed gene expression profiles were obtained and verified by quantitative rtPCR. RESULTS: Tumor growth was significantly reduced (~57-66 %) after hyperoxic treatment compared to control and even more than 5-FU (~36 %). Light microscopic observations of the tumor tissue showed large empty spaces within the tissue after hyperoxic treatment, probably due to loss of glands as indicated by a strong down-regulation of glandular secretory proteins. A significant reduction in mean vascular density (30-50%) was found after hyperoxic treatment. Furthermore, increased apoptosis (18-21%) was found after hyperoxic treatment. CONCLUSION: Thus, by increasing the pO2 in mammary tumor tissue using normobaric and moderate hyperbaric oxygen therapy, a significant retardation in tumor growth is achieved, by loss of glands, reduction in vascular density and enhanced cell death. Hyperbaric oxygen should therefore be further evaluated as a tumor treatment.
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June 16th, 2007
Hyperoxia retards growth and induces apoptosis, changes in vascular density and gene expression in transplanted gliomas in nude rats.
J Neurooncol. 2007 Jun 8;
Stuhr LE, Raa A, Oyan AM, Kalland KH, Sakariassen PO, Petersen K, Bjerkvig R, Reed RK.
Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Jonas Lies vei 91, Bergen, 5009, Norway, linda.stuhr@biomed.uib.no.
This study describes the biological effects of hyperoxic treatment on BT4C rat glioma xenografts in vivo with special reference to tumor growth, angiogenesis, apoptosis, general morphology and gene expression parameters. One group of tumor bearing animals was exposed to normobaric hyperoxia (1 bar, pO(2) = 1.0) and another group was exposed to hyperbaric hyperoxia (2 bar, pO(2) = 2.0), whereas animals housed under normal atmosphere (1 bar, pO(2) = 0.2) served as controls. All treatments were performed at day 1, 4 and 7 for 90 min. Treatment effects were determined by assessment of tumor growth, vascular morphology (immunostaining for von Willebrand factor), apoptosis by TUNEL staining and cell proliferation by Ki67 staining. Moreover, gene expression profiles were obtained and verified by real time quantitative PCR.Hyperoxic treatment caused a approximately 60% reduction in tumor growth compared to the control group after 9 days (p < 0.01). Light microscopy showed that the tumors exposed to hyperoxia contained large “empty spaces” within the tumor mass. Moreover, hyperoxia induced a significant increase in the fraction of apoptotic cells ( approximately 21%), with no significant change in cell proliferation. After 2 bar treatment, the mean vascular density was reduced in the central parts of the tumors compared to the control and 1 bar group. The vessel diameters were significantly reduced (11-24%) in both parts of the tumor tissue. Evidence of induced cell death and reduced angiogenesis was reflected by gene expression analyses. Increased pO(2)-levels in experimental gliomas, using normobaric and moderate hyperbaric oxygen therapy, caused a significant reduction in tumor growth. This process is characterized by enhanced cell death, reduced vascular density and changes in gene expression corresponding to these effects.
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May 16th, 2007
A combination of radiotherapy, nitric oxide and a hyperoxygenation sensitizing protocol for brain malignant tumor treatment
Med Hypotheses. 2007;68(3):528-37. Epub 2006 Oct 27.
Al-Waili NS, Butler GJ.
Life Support Technologies Group, NEWT Technologies, Inc., The Mount Vernon Hospital, Sound Shore Health System, New York, USA. noori786@yahoo.com
Brain malignant tumor such as glioblastoma is a challenging medical and surgical problem. In spite of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the prognosis is still very poor. The limitations of currently available treatment modalities to cure or significantly prolong and improve the quality of life should stimulate rigorous research and studies to combat brain malignant tumors. While precision radiotherapy to reduce tumor size and ameliorate symptoms is still the standard of care, tumor sensitivity to radiation is compromised by low oxygen tensions and a necrotic tumor center. We propose to take advantage of the fact that elevated oxygen increases sensitivity of tumor cells to radiation. A specific application of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO(2)), using nitric oxide (NO) donors and inducers (such as L-arginine, dinitrite or tocopheryl succinate) and ascorbic acid to dilate blood vessels, should permit oxygen tensions in the range of 1000 mmHg to diffuse into the cells and thus increase sensitivity to radiation. This should permit doses that are low enough to cause the death of tumors cells yet minimize injury to brain tissue near the tumor and induced neurological sequelae.
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September 16th, 2007
Hypoxic radiosensitization: adored and ignored.
J Clin Oncol. 2007 Sep 10;25(26):4066-74.
Overgaard J.
Department of Experimental Clinical Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus C, Denmark. jens@oncology.dk
Since observations from the beginning of the last century, it has become well established that solid tumors may contain oxygen-deficient hypoxic areas and that cells in such areas may cause tumors to become radioresistant. Identifying hypoxic cells in human tumors has improved by the help of new imaging and physiologic techniques, and a substantial amount of data indicates the presence of hypoxia in many types of human tumors, although with a considerable heterogeneity among individual tumors. Controlled clinical trials during the last 40 years have indicated that this source of radiation resistance can be eliminated or modified by normobaric or hyperbaric oxygen or by the use of nitroimidazoles as hypoxic radiation sensitizers. More recently, attention has been given to hypoxic cytotoxins, a group of drugs that selectively or preferably destroys cells in a hypoxic environment. An updated systematic review identified 10,108 patients in 86 randomized trials designed to modify tumor hypoxia in patients treated with curative attempted primary radiation therapy alone. Overall modification of tumor hypoxia significantly improved the effect of radiotherapy, with an odds ratio of 0.77 (95% CI, 0.71 to 0.86) for the outcome of locoregional control and with an associated significant overall survival benefit (odds ratio = 0.87; 95% CI, 0.80 to 0.95). No significant influence was found on the incidence of distant metastases or on the risk of radiation-related complications. Ample data exist to support a high level of evidence for the benefit of hypoxic modification. However, hypoxic modification still has no impact on general clinical practice.
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March 16th, 2007
Lung metastatic load limitation with hyperbaric oxygen
Undersea Hyperb Med. 2007 Mar-Apr;34(2):83-90.
Haroon AT, Patel M, Al-Mehdi AB.
Department of Pharmacology, University of South Alabama College of Medicine, Mobile, AL 36688, USA.
Despite some theoretical concern about cancer-enhancing effects ofhyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy, it is frequently administered to cancer patients. We evaluated the growth of murine breast cancer cells in the lung after hyperbaric oxygen treatment in an experimental metastasis assay. Young nu/nu mice were injected intravenously with 3 x 10(3) 4T1-GFP tumor cells per g body weight followed by lung isolation, perfusion, and intact organ epifluorescence microscopy 1 to 37 days after injection. A group of animals (n=32) was exposed once daily for 5 days a week to 45 min of 2.8 ATA hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) in a research animal HBO2 chamber. Control animals (n=31) were not subjected to HBO2 treatment, but received similar intravenous administration of 3 x 10(3) 4T 1-GFP tumor cells. Single tumor cells and colonies were counted in the subpleural vessels in areas of about 0.5 cm2 of lung surface. HBO2 treatment did not lead to an increase in the number of the large or small colonies in the lungs. Rather, a significant reduction in the number of the large colonies was observed at 1 and 16 to 21-day periods of measurements after hyperbaric treatment. However, most importantly, there was a significant decrease in large colony size in the HBO2 group during all periods of observation. The results indicate that HBO2 is not prometastatic for breast cancer cells; rather it restricts the growth of large tumor cell colonies.
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June 16th, 2007
An experimental study of the use of hyperbaric oxygen to reduce the side effects of radiation treatment for malignant disease
Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2007 Jun;36(6):533-40.
Williamson RA.
Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Australia, 17 Monash Avenue, PERTH WA 6000, Australia. raymond.williamson@iinet.net.au
Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) has been used for more than 20 years to assist wound healing in the treatment of the more severe complications associated with the side effects of therapeutic radiation treatment. A prospective study was performed in an irradiated rat model to determine whether HBO is effective in reducing the long-term side effects of therapeutic radiation treatment on normal tissue, when given 1 week after the completion of the radiation treatment. The experimental model was designed to simulate a fractionated course of therapeutic radiation that is commonly used in the treatment of cancer of the mandible. One week following completion of the radiotherapy, the animals underwent a 4-week course of HBO treatment, and two animals from each group were killed at 8-week intervals until the end of the experiment at 36 weeks. Histological sections of tissue clearly showed continued growth of teeth and maintenance of specialized tissues, such as salivary gland and bone, in the treated group compared to the non-treated group. This experimental model demonstrated that HBO is effective in reducing the long-term side effects of therapeutic radiation treatment in normal tissue, when given 1 week after the completion of the radiation treatment.
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June 16th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen: a potential new therapy for leukemia?
Leuk Res. 2007 Jun;31(6):745-6.
Tonomura N, Granowitz EV.
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June 16th, 2007
Apoptosis of T-leukemia and B-myeloma cancer cells induced by hyperbaric oxygen increased phosphorylation of p38 MAPK.
Leuk Res. 2007 Jun;31(6):805-15.
Chen YC, Chen SY, Ho PS, Lin CH, Cheng YY, Wang JK, Sytwu HK.
Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Tumor cells with different origins have different threshold to apoptosis. Hematopoietic (Jurkat, NCI-H929) cells and non-hematopoietic (A549, MCF-7) cells were received hyperbaric oxygen (HBO(2)) treatment from 2.5 to 3.5 atmosphere absolute (ATA) of 100% oxygen for 6h, and a significant percentage of apoptosis were shown only in hematopoietic Jurkat and NCI-H929 cells by either Annexin V or TUNEL assay. Oxidative stress was illustrated higher in HBO(2)-treated hematopoietic cells by superoxide fluorochrome detectors. HBO(2) treatment leads to caspase-3, caspase-7 activation and further cleavage of PARP within cells. Furthermore, the increased phosphorylation of p38 MAPK was demonstrated in both Jurkat and NCI-H929 cells.
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March 16th, 2007
A review of oxygen therapy in ischemic stroke
Neurol Res. 2007 Mar;29(2):173-83
Singhal AB.
Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. asinghal@partners.org
Neuroprotective drugs have so far failed clinical trials, at high cost, and intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (i.v. tPA) remains the only FDA-approved acute stroke therapy. Hyperoxia, acting via multiple direct and indirect mechanisms, may be a powerful neuroprotective strategy to salvage acutely ischemic brain tissue and extend the time window for acute stroke treatment. Of the available oxygen delivery methods, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) appears to be the most potent, while even normobaric oxygen therapy (NBO) may be effective if started promptly after stroke onset. HBO has so far failed to show efficacy in three clinical trials. The failure of these trials is probably attributable to factors such as delayed time to therapy, inadequate sample size and use of excessive chamber pressures. Previous trials did not assess long-term benefit in patients with tissue reperfusion. In this modern era of stroke thrombolysis and advanced neuroimaging, oxygen therapy may have renewed significance. If applied within the first few hours after stroke onset or in patients with imaging evidence of salvageable brain tissue, oxygen therapy could be used to ‘buy time’ for the administration of thrombolytic or neuroprotective drugs. This article reviews the history and current rationale for using oxygen therapy in stroke, the mechanisms of action of HBO and the results of animal and human studies of hyperoxia in cerebrovascular diseases.
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June 16th, 2009
Brain Nerve. 2009 Jun;61(6):677-81. Links
[Utility of hyperbaric oxygenation in radiotherapy for malignant brain tumors--a literature review]
[Article in Japanese]
Beppu T, Tanaka K, Kohshi K.
Department of Neurosurgery, Iwate Medical University, 19-1 Uchimaru, Morioka, Iwate 020-8505, Japan.
Over the past 50 years, hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO) therapy has been used in a wide variety of medical conditions; this theraphy causes an increase in oxygen tension in blood and tissues. In the treatment of malignant gliomas, HBO therapy is used for the radiosensitization of cells in combination with radiotherapy (RT). Further, HBO therapy is applied for the treatment and prevention of radiation-induced brain necrosis that is the most serious complication observed after radiosurgery. We reviewed the literature to evaluate the manner in which HBO therapy contributes to clinical fields in cases of RT administration for malignant brain tumors.
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March 16th, 2009
Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2009 Mar;52(3):408-11. Links
Management of brain abscesses in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Lackner H, Sovinz P, Benesch M, Smolle-Jüttner F, Mokry M, Schwinger W, Moser A, Urban C.
Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Division of Pediatric Hematology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria. herwig.lackner@meduni-graz.at
Brain abscesses in children with leukemia or other malignancies are rare and potentially fatal. We report on four children who developed brain abscesses during treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). All patients received multimodal broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy and liposomal amphotericin-B in combination with hyperbaric oxygen. First-line antimicrobial treatment was modified when a causative organism was isolated. All four patients survived, with two patients showing complete resolution of neurological and MRI abnormalities and with two patients still having residual lesions. To date, all patients are in remission with three patients still receiving antileukemic therapy. Brain abscesses can be successfully managed by a multimodality approach even in severely immunocompromised cancer patient
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February 16th, 2009
J Appl Physiol. 2009 Feb;106(2):711-28. Epub 2008 Nov 20. Links
Hyperbaric oxygen stimulates vasculogenic stem cell growth and differentiation in vivo.
Milovanova TN, Bhopale VM, Sorokina EM, Moore JS, Hunt TK, Hauer-Jensen M, Velazquez OC, Thom SR.
Institute for Environmental Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6068, USA.
We hypothesized that oxidative stress from hyperbaric oxygen (HBO(2), 2.8 ATA for 90 min daily) exerts a trophic effect on vasculogenic stem cells. In a mouse model, circulating stem/progenitor cell (SPC) recruitment and differentiation in subcutaneous Matrigel were stimulated by HBO(2) and by a physiological oxidative stressor, lactate. In combination, HBO(2) and lactate had additive effects. Vascular channels lined by CD34(+) SPCs were identified. HBO(2) and lactate accelerated channel development, cell differentiation based on surface marker expression, and cell cycle entry. CD34(+) SPCs exhibited increases in thioredoxin-1 (Trx1), Trx reductase, hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF)-1, -2, and -3, phosphorylated mitogen-activated protein kinases, vascular endothelial growth factor, and stromal cell-derived factor-1. Cell recruitment to Matrigel and protein synthesis responses were abrogated by N-acetyl cysteine, dithioerythritol, oxamate, apocynin, U-0126, neutralizing anti-vascular endothelial growth factor, or anti-stromal cell-derived factor-1 antibodies, and small inhibitory RNA to Trx reductase, lactate dehydrogenase, gp91(phox), HIF-1 or -2, and in mice conditionally null for HIF-1 in myeloid cells. By causing an oxidative stress, HBO(2) activates a physiological redox-active autocrine loop in SPCs that stimulates vasculogenesis. Thioredoxin system activation leads to elevations in HIF-1 and -2, followed by synthesis of HIF-dependent growth factors. HIF-3 has a negative impact on SPCs.
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January 16th, 2007
The effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on the delay procedure
Plast Reconstr Surg. 2007 Jan;119(1):86-94.
Ulkür E, Karagoz H, Ergun O, Celikoz B, Yildiz S, Yildirim S.
Plastik ve Rekonstrüktif Cerrahi Kliniği ve Yanik Unitesi, GATA Haydarpaşa Eğitim Hastanesi, Istanbul, Turkey. eulkur@yahoo.com
BACKGROUND: This study evaluates the possibility of enhancing the beneficial effect of the delay procedure by using hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and the possibility of lessening the time required for maximal effect of delay procedure. METHODS: Eight male Wistar rats were used in each of 10 groups. The surgical delay method was applied to the caudally based dorsal rat flap by incising the longitudinal borders and undermining the flap. In the first five groups, 3-, 7-, 10-, 14-, and 21-day delay periods were applied, and in the other five groups, hyperbaric oxygen therapy was applied during the delay periods. Blood circulation was measured with a laser Doppler flowmeter, and flap survival lengths were recorded. Histological analysis for vascular counting and determining vascular areas and microangiographic analysis for monitoring vascular status were performed. RESULTS: In addition to the flap viabilities being increased, the maximum effect of the delay procedure could be achieved earlier with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Blood circulation in the flaps, vascular counts, and vascular areas were increased by applying hyperbaric oxygen during the delay period. Microangiographic results confirmed the beneficial effect of hyperbaric oxygen treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Hyperbaric oxygen treatment during the delay period can lessen the time period needed for the delay procedure and increase the effect of the delay itself.
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March 16th, 2007
Preservative spleen surgery and hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Acta Cir Bras. 2007 Mar-Apr;22 Suppl 1:21-8.
Paulo IC, Paulo DN, Cintra LC, Santos MC, Rodrigues H, Ferrari TA, Azevedo TC, Silva AL.
Laboratory of the Division of Surgical Principles, Derpartment of Surgery, School of Science, Santa Casa de Misericordia, 29042-753 Vitória, ES, Brazil. icpaulo@unimedvitoria.com.br
PURPOSE: To assess functional and morphological aspects of spleen auto-implants and of the splenic inferior pole of rats, post-operatively treated or not with hyperbaric oxygen, as well as the survival of these animals, were studied. METHODS: Seventy-eight male Wistar rats, weighing between 192 and 283 g ( 238,3 +/- 9,6g), were randomly distributed into three groups: Group 1–(n=20), spleen manipulation; group 2–(n=36), spleen auto-implantation; group 3–(n= 22), subtotal splenectomy preserving the inferior pole. Each group was subdivided as follows: subgroup a, not submitted to hyperbaric oxygen therapy: 1a(n=10), 2a(n=21), 3a(n= 13); subgroup b, submitted to the therapy: 1b(n=10), 2b(n=15), 3b(n=9). Blood was collected pre-operatively and 11 days after surgery, for the estimation of lipids and immunoglobulins and the counting of platelets and Howell-Jolly corpuscles. The spleen and remains were taken for histological study. RESULTS: The number of surviving animals was significantly higher in groups 1(p<0,01) and 3(p<0,05) relative to those of subgroup 2a. Total cholesterol and the LDL fraction increased significantly in subgroup 2a (p<0,01) and 3a (p<0,05), and remained unaltered in subgroups 2b e 3b. IgM decreased more significantly in subgroup 2 than in subgroup 3 (p<0,001 vs p<0,01). The increase of platelet numbers and the appearance of Howell Jolly corpuscles was smaller in subgroup 2b compared to subgroup 2a , and in group 3 compared to group aqui-> 2. The macro and microscopic appearance in subgroup 2b were more viable than in subgroup 2a, and that of group 3 more viable than in group 2. The survival of the animals carrying their whole spleen or its inferior pole was more frequent than that of the auto-implanted animals. CONCLUSION: Functionality and viability of the whole spleen or of its inferior pole, were better than in the auto-implanted animals. Hyperbaric oxygen-therapy contributed to increased survival frequency of auto-implanted animals, and to improve the functionality and viability of the auto-implants and the function of the inferior splenic pole, and did not interfere in animals carrying their whole spleen.
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August 16th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy reduces severity and improves survival in severe acute pancreatitis.
J Gastrointest Surg. 2007 Aug;11(8):1008-15.
Nikfarjam M, Cuthbertson CM, Malcontenti-Wilson C, Muralidharan V, Millar I, Christophi C.
Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne, Austin Hospital, Lance Townsend Building Level 8, Studley Rd, Heidelberg, Melbourne, Victoria, 3084, Australia. surgery-armc@unimelb.edu.au
Severe acute pancreatitis is characterized by pancreatic necrosis, resulting in local and systemic inflammation. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy modulates inflammation, but has not been extensively studied in pancreatitis. This study investigates the effects of HBO in a rat model of severe acute pancreatitis. Sixty-four rats were induced with severe pancreatitis using 4% sodium taurocholate and randomized to HBO treatment or control. HBO was commenced 6 h after induction (100% oxygen at 2.5 atmospheres for 90 min) and continued every 12 h for a maximum of eight treatment episodes. Surviving animals were killed at 7 days. Severity of pancreatitis was graded macroscopically and microscopically. Lung edema was calculated using wet and dry lung weights. Macroscopic and microscopic severity scores (mean +/- SE) of HBO-treated animals with pancreatitis (8.3 +/- 0.7; 9.6 +/- 0.4) were lower than those of controls (10.5 +/- 0.5; 11.1 +/- 0.4) (p = 0.02 and p = 0.03, respectively). The HBO-treated group had reduced pancreatic necrosis compared to controls (40 +/- 4% vs. 54 +/- 4%; p = 0.003). There was no difference in pulmonary edema between the groups. Median survival in the HBO-treatment group was 51 h, compared to 26 h in controls. Day-7 survival was significantly improved in the HBO-treated animals compared to controls (40% vs. 27%; p = 0.04). HBO therapy reduces overall severity, decreases the extent of necrosis, and improves survival in severe acute pancreatitis.
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May 16th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen in the treatment of invasive fungal infections: a single-center experience.
Isr Med Assoc J. 2007 May;9(5):387-8.
Segal E, Menhusen MJ, Shawn S.
General Intensive Care Unit, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel. e_segal@sheba.health.gov.il
BACKGROUND: Invasive fungal infections by Mucorales or Aspergillus spp. are lethal infections in immune compromised patients. For these infections a multimodal approach is required. One potential tool for treating these infections is hyperbaric oxygen. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the clinical course and utility of hyperbaric oxygen in patients with invasive fungal infections by Mucorales or Aspergillus spp. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of 14 patients treated with HBO as part of their multimodal therapy over a 12 year period. RESULTS: Most patients had significant immune suppression due to either drug treatment or their underlying disorder. Thirteen of the 14 underwent surgery as part of the treatment and all were receiving antifungal therapy while treated with the hyperbaric oxygen. The number of HBO sessions ranged between 1 and 44. Seven of the patients survived the infection. No patient developed complications due to HBO therapy. CONCLUSIONS: HBO is a potentially significant adjunct in the treatment of invasive fungal infections. Evidence on its usefulness as a standard of care in these infections is still lacking. Since it will be difficult to generate conclusive data regarding the importance of HBO in these infections, the value of HBO in these patients should be considered on an individual basis.
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June 16th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for interstitial cystitis resistant to conventional treatments
Int J Urol. 2007 Jun;14(6):563-5.
Tanaka T, Kawashima H, Makino T, Kamikawa S, Kato N, Nakatani T.
Department of Urology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan. tomoaki826@msic.med.osaka-cu.ac.jp
We treated two cases of interstitial cystitis (IC) that were resistant to some conventional therapies with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO). Both patients underwent 20 sessions of 100% oxygen inhalation (2.0 atmosphere absolute for 60 min/day x 5 days/week for 4 weeks) in a hyperbaric chamber. The period of follow up was 12 months for case 1 and 9 months for case 2. After a course of HBO, the bladder mucosal ulcer (Hunner’s ulcer) disappeared, and changes from baseline in pain and urinary frequency was constitutively inhibited. There were no adverse events during the 20 treatment sessions. One woman (case 1) had mild Eustachian tube dysfunction, resulting in a transient hearing impairment. HBO seems to be an option for treatment of IC resistant to conventional therapies.
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March 16th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygenation in peripheral nerve repair and regeneration
Neurol Res. 2007 Mar;29(2):184-98.
Sanchez EC.
Hyperbaric Medicine Department, Hospital Angeles del Pedregal, Mexico, DF, Mexico. crosati@medovate.com
Peripheral nerves are essential connections between the central nervous system and muscles, autonomic structures and sensory organs. Their injury is one of the major causes for severe and longstanding impairment in limb function. Acute peripheral nerve lesion has an important inflammatory component and is considered as ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury. Surgical repair has been the standard of care in peripheral nerve lesion. It has reached optimal technical development but the end results still remain unpredictable and complete functional recovery is rare. Nevertheless, nerve repair is not primarily a mechanical problem and microsurgery is not the only key to success. Lately, there have been efforts to develop alternatives to nerve graft. Work has been carried out in basal lamina scaffolds, biologic and non-biologic structures in combination with neurotrophic factors and/or Schwann cells, tissues, immunosuppressive agents, growth factors, cell transplantation, principles of artificial sensory function, gene technology, gangliosides, implantation of microchips, hormones, electromagnetic fields and hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO). HBO appears to be a beneficial adjunctive treatment for surgical repair in the acute peripheral nerve lesion, when used at lower pressures and in a timely fashion (<6 hours).
Posted in Nerve regeneration, News, Pain/Inflammation/arthritis, Sports Injuries, Surgery/Cosmetic Surgery, Wound Healing | Comments Off
December 4th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy might improve certain pathophysiological
findings in autism.
Med Hypotheses. 2007;68(6):1208-27. Epub 2006 Dec 4.
Rossignol DA.
University of Virginia, Department of Family Medicine, P.O. Box 800729, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. dlross7@hotmail.com
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder currently affecting as many as 1 out of 166 children in the United States. Numerous studies of autistic individuals have revealed evidence of cerebral hypoperfusion, neuroinflammation and gastrointestinal inflammation, immune dysregulation, oxidative stress, relative mitochondrial dysfunction, neurotransmitter abnormalities, impaired detoxification of toxins, dysbiosis, and impaired production of porphyrins. Many of these findings have been correlated with core autistic symptoms. For example, cerebral hypoperfusion in autistic children has been correlated with repetitive, self-stimulatory and stereotypical behaviors, and impairments in communication, sensory perception, and social interaction. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) might be able to improve each of these problems in autistic individuals. Specifically, HBOT has been used with clinical success in several cerebral hypoperfusion conditions and can compensate for decreased blood flow by increasing the oxygen content of plasma and body tissues. HBOT has been reported to possess strong anti-inflammatory properties and has been shown to improve immune function. There is evidence that oxidative stress can be reduced with HBOT through the upregulation of antioxidant enzymes. HBOT can also increase the function and production of mitochondria and improve neurotransmitter abnormalities. In addition, HBOT upregulates enzymes that can help with detoxification problems specifically found in autistic children. Dysbiosis is common in autistic children and HBOT can improve this. Impaired production of porphyrins in autistic children might affect the production of heme, and HBOT might help overcome the effects of this problem. Finally, HBOT has been shown to mobilize stem cells from the bone marrow to the systemic circulation. Recent studies in humans have shown that stem cells can enter the brain and form new neurons, astrocytes, and microglia. It is expected that amelioration of these underlying pathophysiological problems through the use of HBOT will lead to improvements in autistic symptoms. Several studies on the use of HBOT in autistic children are currently underway and early results are promising.
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October 16th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy improves spatial learning and memory in a rat model of chronic traumatic brain injury.
Brain Res. 2007 Oct 12;1174:120-9.
Harch PG, Kriedt C, Van Meter KW, Sutherland RJ.
Hyperbaric Medicine Fellowship, Section of Emergency Medicine, Department of Medicine, LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Baromedical Research Institute, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
In the present experiment we use a rat model of traumatic brain injury to evaluate the ability of low-pressure hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to improve behavioral and neurobiological outcomes. The study employed an adaptation of the focal cortical contusion model. 64 Male Long-Evans rats received unilateral cortical contusion and were tested in the Morris Water Task (MWT) 31-33 days post injury. Rats were divided into three groups: an untreated control group (N=22), an HBOT treatment group (N=19) and a sham-treated normobaric air group (N=23). The HBOT group received 80 bid, 7 days/week 1.5 ATA/90-min HBOTs and the sham-treated normobaric air group the identical schedule of air treatments using a sham hyperbaric pressurization. All rats were subsequently retested in the MWT. After testing all rats were euthanized. Blood vessel density was measured bilaterally in hippocampus using a diaminobenzadine stain and was correlated with MWT performance. HBOT caused an increase in vascular density in the injured hippocampus (p<0.001) and an associated improvement in spatial learning (p<0.001) compared to the control groups. The increased vascular density and improved MWT in the HBOT group were highly correlated (p<0.001). In conclusion, a 40-day series of 80 low-pressure HBOTs caused an increase in contused hippocampus vascular density and an associated improvement in cognitive function. These findings reaffirm the clinical experience of HBOT-treated patients with chronic traumatic brain injury.
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October 16th, 2007
Delayed hyperbaric oxygenation is more effective than early prolonged
normobaric hyperoxia in experimental focal cerebral ischemia.
Neurosci Lett. 2007 Oct 2;425(3):141-5. Epub 2007 Aug 1.
Beynon C, Sun L, Marti HH, Heiland S, Veltkamp R.
Department of Neurology, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
Hyperbaric (HBO) and normobaric (NBO) oxygen therapy have been shown to be neuroprotective in focal cerebral ischemia. In previous comparative studies, NBO appeared to be less effective than HBO. However, the experimental protocols did not account for important advantages of NBO in the clinical setting such as earlier initiation and prolonged administration. Therefore, we compared the effects of early prolonged NBO to delayed HBO on infarct size and functional outcome. We also examined whether combining NBO and HBO is of additional benefit. Wistar rats underwent filament-induced middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 150min. Animals breathed either air, 100% O(2) at ambient pressure (NBO; initiated 30min after MCAO) 100% O(2) at 3atm absolute (HBO; initiated 90min after MCAO), or a sequence of NBO and HBO. Infarct volumes and neurological outcome (Garcia score) were examined 7d after MCAO. HBO (174+/-65mm(3)) significantly reduced mean infarct volume by 31% compared to air (251+/-59mm(3)) and by 23% compared to NBO treated animals (225+/-63mm(3)). In contrast, NBO failed to decrease infarct volume significantly. Treatment with NBO+HBO (185+/-101mm(3)) added no additional benefit to HBO alone. Neurological deficit was significantly smaller in HBO treated animals (Garcia score: 13.3+/-1.2) than in animals treated with air (12.1+/-1.4), but did not differ significantly from NBO (12.4+/-0.9) and NBO+HBO (12.8+/-1.1). In conclusion, HBO is a more effective therapy than NBO in transient experimental ischemia even when accounting for delayed treatment-onset of HBO. The combination of NBO and HBO results in no additional benefit.
Posted in Anti-Aging, Brain & Head Injuries/Concussions/TBI, Cerebral Palsy, News, Stroke | Comments Off
March 16th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen in traumatic brain injury
Neurol Res. 2007 Mar;29(2):162-72
Rockswold SB, Rockswold GL, Defillo A.
Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Hennepin County Medical Center, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Minnesota, 701 Park Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55415, USA.
OBJECTIVES: This critical literature review examines historical and current investigations on the efficacy and mechanisms of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment in traumatic brain injury (TBI). Potential safety risks and oxygen toxicity, as well as HBO’s future potential, are also discussed. METHODS: Directed literature review. RESULTS: Historically, cerebral vasoconstriction and increased oxygen availability were seen as the primary mechanisms of HBO in TBI. HBO now appears to be improving cerebral aerobic metabolism at a cellular level, namely, by enhancing damaged mitochondrial recovery. HBO given at the ideal treatment paradigm, 1.5 ATA for 60 minutes, does not appear to produce oxygen toxicity and is relatively safe. DISCUSSION: The use of HBO in TBI remains controversial. Growing evidence, however, shows that HBO may be a potential treatment for patients with severe brain injury. Further investigations, including a multicenter prospective randomized clinical trial, will be required to definitively define the role of HBO in severe TBI.
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October 16th, 2007
Proliferation of neural stem cells correlates with Wnt-3 protein in hypoxic-ischemic neonate rats after hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Neuroreport. 2007 Oct 29;18(16):1753-1756.
Wang XL, Yang YJ, Xie M, Yu XH, Liu CT, Wang X.
Department of Pediatrics, Xiang Ya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, PR China.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy promoted brain cell proliferation. Wnt-3 is closely associated with the proliferation of neural stem cells. We examined whether hyperbaric oxygen promoted neural stem cells to proliferate and its correlation with Wnt-3 protein in hypoxic-ischemic neonate rats. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy was administered 3 h after hypoxia ischemia daily for 7 days. The proliferating stem cells and Wnt-3 protein were examined dynamically in the subventricular zone. Results showed that stem cells proliferated and peaked 7 days after hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Wnt-3 protein increased to the higher levels 3 days after therapy. Linear regression analysis showed that nestin protein correlated with Wnt-3 protein. We propose that hyperbaric oxygen treatment promote stem cells to proliferate, which is correlated with Wnt-3 protein.
Posted in Anti-Aging, Autism, Brain & Head Injuries/Concussions/TBI, Cerebral Palsy, News, Stem Cells, Stroke | Comments Off
August 16th, 2007
The effect of oxygen therapy on brain damage and cerebral pO(2) in transient focal cerebral ischemia in the rat.
Physiol Meas. 2007 Aug;28(8):963-76.
Hou H, Grinberg O, Williams B, Grinberg S, Yu H, Alvarenga DL, Wallach H, Buckey J, Swartz HM.
Department of Radiology, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH, USA.
We examined the effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) and normobaric oxygen (NBO) on neurologic damage and brain oxygenation before and after focal cerebral ischemia in rats. A middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO)/reperfusion rat model was used. The rats were sacrificed 22 h after reperfusion, and the infarct volume was evaluated. In study A, HBO (2.0 ATA), NBO (100% oxygen) and normobaric air (NBA) were each administered for 60 min in five different rat groups. The sizes of the infarcts after HBO and NBO applied during ischemia were 8.8 +/- 2.8% and 22.8 +/- 3.7% respectively of the ipsilateral non-occluded hemisphere. The infarct size after HBO applied during ischemia was statistically smaller than for NBO and NBA exposure (p < 0.01). In study B, cerebral pO(2) was measured before and after MCAO and HBO exposure (2.0 ATA for 60 min) in six rats using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) oximetry. The pO(2) in the ischemic hemisphere fell markedly following ischemia, while the pO(2) in the contralateral hemisphere remained within the normal range. Measurements of the pO(2) performed minutes after HBO exposure did not show an increase in the ischemic or normal hemispheres. The mean relative infarct size was consistent with the changes observed in study A. These data confirm the neuroprotective effects of HBO in cerebral ischemia and indicate that in vivo EPR oximetry can be an effective method to monitor the cerebral oxygenation after oxygen therapy for ischemic stroke. The ability to measure the pO(2) in several sites provides important information that should help to optimize the design of hyperoxic therapies for stroke.
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February 16th, 2007
Pilot case study of the therapeutic potential of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on chronic brain injury
J Neurol Sci. 2007 Feb 15;253(1-2):94-105.
Hardy P, Johnston KM, De Beaumont L, Montgomery DL, Lecomte JM, Soucy JP, Bourbonnais D, Lassonde M.
Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada.
BACKGROUND: Recently, the effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO(2)) therapy was explored in the treatment of chronic TBI. It has been speculated that idling neurons in the penumbra zone remain viable several years after injury and might be reactivated by enhanced oxygenation. We studied the therapeutic potential of HBO(2) therapy in a 54-year-old man who had sustained traumatic brain injuries one year before testing that resulted in permanent neurological symptoms. METHODS: Two treatment series separated by a one-year inter-session interval were administered. Treatment series consisted of 20 and 60 daily one-hour exposures to 100% oxygen at 2 ATA. Electrophysiological (event-related potentials), metabolic and behavioral (sensorimotor and neuropsychological) measurements were obtained to evaluate the effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on neurocognitive functioning. RESULTS: Following the initial treatment, the patient showed improvements in sensorimotor functions, as well as enhanced P300 amplitude in the damaged hemisphere. Although most of these gains were no longer observed one year after treatment, these were reinstated with an additional series of 60 exposures. Neuropsychological improvements were also observed after the completion of the second series of treatments. CONCLUSION: The present single-case study provides preliminary evidence of neuropsychological and electrophysiological improvements after series of 20 and 60 treatments, although the first dosage appeared to be insufficient to produce permanent benefits. Longitudinal studies using different treatment parameters should be conducted if we are to systematically investigate long-term improvements resulting from HBO(2) therapy.
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April 16th, 2007
Protection of mitochondrial function and improvement in cognitive recovery in rats treated with hyperbaric oxygen following lateral fluid-percussion injury.
J Neurosurg. 2007 Apr;106(4):687-94. Links
Zhou Z, Daugherty WP, Sun D, Levasseur JE, Altememi N, Hamm RJ, Rockswold GL, Bullock MR.
Department of Neurosurgery, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia 23298-0631, USA.
OBJECT: Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) has been shown to improve outcome after severe traumatic brain injury, but its underlying mechanisms are unknown. Following lateral fluid-percussion injury (FPI), the authors tested the effects of HBO2 treatment as well as enhanced normobaric oxygenation on mitochondrial function, as measured by both cognitive recovery and cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels. METHODS: Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to moderate lateral FPI or sham injury and were allocated to one of four treatment groups: 1) FPI treated with 4 hours of normobaric 30% O2; 2) FPI treated with 4 hours of normobaric 100% O2; 3) FPI treated with 1 hour of HBO2 plus 3 hours of normobaric 100% O2; and 4) sham-injured treated with normobaric 30% O2. Cognitive outcome was assessed using the Morris water maze (MWM) on Days 11 to 15 after injury. Animals were then killed 21 days postinjury to assess hippocampal neuronal loss. Adenosine triphosphate was extracted from the neocortex and measured using high-performance liquid chromatography. The results showed that injured animals treated with HBO2 or normobaric 100% O2 alone had significantly higher levels of cerebral ATP as compared with animals treated using normobaric 30% O2 (p < or = 0.05). The injured animals treated with HBO2 had significant improvements in cognitive recovery, as characterized by a shorter latency in MWM performance (p < or = 0.05), and decreased neuronal loss in the CA2/3 and hilar regions as compared with those treated with 30% or 100% O2, (p < or = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Both hyperbaric and normobaric hyperoxia increased cerebral ATP levels after lateral FPI. In addition, HBO2 treatment improved cognitive recovery and reduced hippocampal neuronal cell loss after brain injury in the rat.
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September 16th, 2007
Evaluation of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in treatment of patients with osteomyelitis of the mandible.
Mund Kiefer Gesichtschir. 2007 Sep 4;
Handschel J, Brüssermann S, Depprich R, Ommerborn M, Naujoks C, Kübler NR, Meyer U.
Klinik für Kiefer- und Plastische Gesichtschirurgie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Moorenstr. 5, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany, handschel@med.uni-duesseldorf.de.
BACKGROUND: Chronic osteomyelitis of the jaw is a relapsing disease with multiple treatment strategies described in the literature. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is one of them. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in these patients. METHOD: All patients with a chronic osteomyelitis of the mandible who received in our department hyperbaric oxygen therapy between 2000 and 2004 were included in this study. The clinical outcome (lack of symptoms e.g. pain, swelling, etc.) was the pivotal evaluation parameter. All patients were divided in three groups according to their medical history. Group 1: All patients with osteomyelitis of the mandible, who received no treatment before. Group 2: All patients with one local relapse, who received only antimicrobial treatment. Group 3: Patients with at least one local relapse after antimicrobial and surgical treatment. RESULTS: 27 patients were evaluated in this study. Seven out of 13 patients in group 1 were relapse free after performing 40 hyperbaric oxygen therapies. However, only 4 of 9 patients in group 3 were relapse free after treatment. In group 2 the hyperbaric oxygen therapy was successful particularly in the younger patients (3 of 4). CONCLUSION: Adjuvant hyperbaric oxygen therapy was successful in the treatment of patients with chronic recurrent osteomyelitis of the mandible. Therefore, it is an treatment option which can avoid ablative surgery in some cases.
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August 16th, 2007
Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Is Comparable to Acetylsalicylic Acid Treatment in an Animal Model of Arthritis.
J Pain. 2007 Aug 7;
Wilson HD, Toepfer VE, Senapati AK, Wilson JR, Fuchs PN.
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas.
Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the United States are affected by the pain, disability, and decreased quality of life associated with arthritis. The primary focus of treatment is on reducing joint inflammation and pain through a variety of pharmacotherapies, each of which is associated with various side effects. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is an alternative treatment that has been recommended to treat a variety of inflammatory diseases, ranging from chronic brain injury to exercise induced muscle soreness. The purpose of this set of experiments was to explore the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on joint inflammation and mechanical hyperalgesia in an animal model of arthritis, and compare these effects to treatment with aspirin. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy significantly reduced both joint inflammation and hyperalgesia. As compared with aspirin treatment, hyperbaric treatment was equally as effective in decreasing joint inflammation and hyperalgesia. PERSPECTIVE: This article reports that hyperbaric oxygen treatment decreases pain and inflammation in an animal model of arthritis. The effect of hyperbaric oxygen treatment is very similar in magnitude to the effect of acetylsalicylic acid treatment. Potentially, hyperbaric oxygen could be used to treat pain and inflammation in patients with arthritis.
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May 16th, 2007
Effects of hyperbaric oxygen treatment on tendon graft and tendon-bone integration in bone tunnel: biochemical and histological analysis in rabbits.
J Orthop Res. 2007 May;25(5):636-45.
Yeh WL, Lin SS, Yuan LJ, Lee KF, Lee MY, Ueng SW.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, 5, Fu-Hsin St. 333, Kweishan, Taoyuan, Taiwan. wenneng@adm.cgmh.org.tw
Despite moderate success in clinical applications, outcome of tendon grafts employed for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction remains unsatisfactory. This study investigated the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) on neovascularization at the tendon-bone junction, collagen fibers of the tendon graft, and the tendon graft-bony interface incorporated into the osseous tunnel in rabbits. Forty rabbits were assigned to two groups. The HBO group was exposed to 100% oxygen at 2.5 atmospheres pressure for 2 h daily, 5 consecutive days in a week. The control group was maintained in cages exposed to normal air. Histological studies of 12 rabbits were performed postoperatively at 6, 12, and 18 weeks. Biomechanical studies of 24 rabbits were conducted postoperatively at 12 and 18 weeks. Electron microscopy (EM) analyses of four rabbits were performed postoperatively at 18 weeks. Experimental results demonstrated that a higher number of Sharpey’s fibers bridged the newly formed fibrocartilage and graft in the HBO group than in the control group. In addition, HBO treatment increased neovascularization and enhanced the incorporation of the progressive interface between tendon graft and bone. Biomechanical analysis showed that the HBO group achieved higher maximal pullout strength than the control group. Examination by EM showed that HBO treatment resulted in regenerated collagen fibers with increased compaction and regularity. Based on experimental results, HBO treatment is a treatment modality that potentially improves outcome following ACL reconstruction. (c) 2007 Orthopaedic Research Society.
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June 16th, 2007
Effects of hyperbaric oxygen and platelet derived growth factor on medial collateral ligament fibroblasts.
Undersea Hyperb Med. 2007 May-Jun; 34(3):181-90
Chan YS, Chen AC, Yuan LJ, Lin SS, Yang CY, Lee MS, Ueng SW.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, 5, Fu-Hsing St. 333, Kweishan, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
PURPOSE: This study investigated hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) and platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) to determine their combined effects on fibroblasts from rabbit medial collateral ligament (MCL). METHOD: Cells were divided into four groups: (I) Control, (II) HBO2 treatment, (III) PDGF-BB treatment and (IV) HBO2 combined with PDGF-BB treatment. All hyperoxic cells were exposed to 100% O2 at 2.5 atmospheres absolute (ATA) in a hyperbaric chamber for 120 minutes per 48 hours. Measurement of cell growth was based on increase in cell number. Cell cycle modulations were analyzed by fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS). Quantity of Type I and Type III collagen was determined by western blotting and image analyzer. RESULTS: Treatment doses of HBO2 alone or PDGF-bb alone dependently increased cell growth. A combination of HBO2 treatment plus PDGF-bb treatment had an additive effect on cell growth in comparison with HBO2 treatment alone or PDGF-bb treatment alone. FACS analysis revealed that HBO2 alone, PDGF-bb alone and PDGF-bb plus HBO2 treatment increase the percentage of cells accumulated in S-phase. Western blotting analysis revealed that Type III collagen content was decreased significantly after HBO2 treatment alone or HBO2 plus PDGF-bb treatment but not in PDGF-bb treatment alone. In contrast, although Type I collagen content was increased after HBO2 treatment, the increase in Type I collagen (increase /original) was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: HBO2 or HBO2 plus PDGF-bb treatment decreases the Type III collagen/Type I collagen content, which could result in mechanically stronger collagen fibrils. We propose HBO2 therapy as a potentially effective treatment for MCL healing.
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May 16th, 2007
Effects of hyperbaric oxygen on proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts from human alveolar bone
Connect Tissue Res. 2007;48(4):206-13.
Wu D, Malda J, Crawford R, Xiao Y.
Bone Tissue Engineering Lab, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
In view of the controversy of the clinical use of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment to stimulate fracture healing and bone regeneration, we have analyzed the effects of daily exposure to HBO on the proliferation and differentiation of human osteoblasts in vitro. HBO stimulated proliferation when osteoblasts were cultured in 10% fetal calf serum (FCS), whereas an inhibitory effect of HBO was observed when cultures were supplemented with 2% FCS. On the other hand, HBO enhanced biomineralization with an increase in bone nodule formation, calcium deposition, and alkaline phosphatase activity, whereas no cytotoxic effect was detected using a lactate dehydrogenase activity assay. The data suggest that the exposure of osteoblasts to HBO enhances differentiation toward the osteogenic phenotype, providing cellular evidence of the potential application of HBO in fracture healing and bone regeneration.
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August 16th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy facilitates surgery on complex open elbow injuries: preliminary results.
J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2007 Jul-Aug;16(4):454-60. Epub 2007 May 15.
Huang KC, Tsai YH, Hsu RW.
Hyperbaric Medicine Center, Pu-Tz City, Taiwan. kc2672@adm.cgmh.org.tw
Complex open elbow injuries present a significant challenge to orthopaedic surgeons because of the poor potential for achieving a good functional level, even given good anatomic realignment. Associated massive soft-tissue damage impedes surgical fixation, delays rehabilitation, and therefore, further deteriorates the functional outcome. We studied a prospective, consecutive series of 16 patients with complex open elbow injuries who were treated with a combination of treatment modalities including early bony stabilization, debridement of soft tissue, and early coverage. The treatment protocol also used hyperbaric oxygen therapy to facilitate immediate internal fixation. The median value of the Mangled Extremity Severity Score was 5.5 (range, 3-10). Successful reconstruction was achieved in all 16 patients. No deep infection occurred, but there were 3 self-limited superficial infections. The average elbow functional result at 12 months after surgery, based on the Mayo score system, was good (mean value, 80.9; range, 55-100). Of the patients, 75% achieved satisfactory functional results for the elbow. The results of this study demonstrate that the studied treatment protocol provides a promising alternative for managing these complex open elbow injuries.
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March 16th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen induces basic fibroblast growth factor and hepatocyte growth factor expression, and enhances blood perfusion and muscle regeneration in mouse ischemic hind limbs.
Circ J. 2007 Mar;71(3):405-11.
Asano T, Kaneko E, Shinozaki S, Imai Y, Shibayama M, Chiba T, Ai M, Kawakami A, Asaoka H, Nakayama T, Mano Y, Shimokado K.
Geriatrics and Vascular Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Graduate School, Tokyo, Japan.
BACKGROUND: It is not clear how hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) affects ischemia-induced pathophysiological responses such as angiogenesis and skeletal muscle regeneration. In the present study the effects of HBO on the functional and morphological recovery of ischemic hind limbs, blood perfusion and the local production of angiogenic growth factors were studied in a mouse model. METHODS AND RESULTS: Mice were placed in pure oxygen under 3 atm for 1 h/day for 14 days after the removal of a segment of the left femoral artery. HBO-treated mice showed better functional recovery and greater blood flow in the ischemic hind limb than untreated mice. Histological examination revealed unatrophied muscle fibers with islands of small regenerating muscle cells only in HBO-treated mice. Regeneration of muscle was confirmed by the increase in myf5 mRNA. The amount of mRNA for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was slightly increased in the ischemic hind limbs. HBO eliminated the increase in VEGF mRNA. In contrast, the amount of mRNA for bFGF and HGF was further increased by HBO treatment. HBO transiently increased early growth response protein 1 (Egr-1) in the ischemic hind limbs. CONCLUSIONS: HBO accelerates the recovery of ischemic hind limbs by increasing the production of bFGF and HGF and by promoting muscle regeneration in mice.
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April 16th, 2007
Effects of hyperbaric oxygen on gene expressions of procollagen, matrix metalloproteinase and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase in injured medial collateral ligament and anterior cruciate ligament.
Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2007 Apr;15(4):443-52.
Takeyama N, Sakai H, Ohtake H, Mashitori H, Tamai K, Saotome K.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Tochigi, Japan.
Animal experiments were performed to investigate whether and how the administration of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) affects gene expressions of procollagens, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) in injured medial collateral ligament (MCL) and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). In 64 Sprague-Dawley rats, the MCL of the left knee was lacerated at the midsubstance, and the ACL of the left knee was lacerated adjacent to the tibial insertion in another 64 rats. Of these, 32 rats with lacerated MCL and 32 rats with lacerated ACL were housed in individual cages at normal atmospheric pressure (Groups MC and AC, respectively), while the remaining 64 rats were exposed to 100% oxygen at 2.5 atmospheres absolute for 2 h for 5 days a week (Groups MH and AH, respectively). Rats were sacrificed at 3, 7, 14 and 28 days postoperatively. After macroscopic examination, bilateral MCLs were harvested from Groups MC and MH, and bilateral ACLs from Groups AC and AH. Total RNA was extracted from each specimen and gene expressions of type I and type III procollagens, MMP-2, -9 and -3, and TIMP-1 and -2 were estimated using semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Macroscopically, lacerated MCL healed by scar tissue formation, the amount of which appeared to be greater in Group MH than in Group MC. In contrast, no lacerated ACLs united, and little, if any, differences were apparent in macroscopic findings between Groups AH and AC. Gene expression of type I procollagen was significantly greater in Group MH than in Group MC at 7 days postoperatively and was also significantly greater in Group AH than in Group AC at 28 days (P<0.05). No significant differences in type III procollagen gene expression were noted between Groups MH and MC or between Groups AH and AC. In addition, no significant differences in gene expressions of MMPs were seen in either ligament, except that gene expression of MMP-13 was significantly lower at 7 days in Group MH than in Group MC (P<0.05). Gene expressions of TIMPs did not differ significantly between Groups MH and MC in each time interval, whereas gene expressions of TIMPs were significantly greater in Group AH than in Group AC at 7, 14 and 28 days for TIMP-1 and at 3, 7 and 14 days for TIMP-2 (P<0.05). RT-PCR results suggested that HBO enhances structural protein synthesis and inhibits degradative processes by enhancing TIMP activities in the lacerated ACL. However, none of the lacerated ACLs united macroscopically despite administration of HBO, indicating that the effect of HBO is insufficient for healing of the injured ACL. If HBO therapy is used as an adjunctive therapy after primary repair of the injured ACL, the success rate of surgery seems likely to be increased.
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February 16th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of open fractures and crush injuries
Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2007 Feb;25(1):177-88.
Buettner MF, Wolkenhauer D.
Great River Wound and Hyperbaric Clinic, Center for Rehabilitation, 1401 West Agency Road, West Burlington, IA 52655, USA. mbuettner@pol.net
This article focuses on the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOt) in the treatment of open fractures and crush injuries. Based on the clinical evidence and cost analysis, medical institutions that treat open fracture and crush injuries are justified in incorporating HBOt as a standard of care. Both Medicare and Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society guidelines list crush injuries as an approved indication for HBOt. Emergency physicians should familiarize themselves with this emerging treatment modality because of their role in the early management of these injuries.
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May 16th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen stimulates epidermal reconstruction in human skin equivalents.
Wound Repair Regen. 2007 Mar-Apr;15(2):266-74.
Kairuz E, Upton Z, Dawson RA, Malda J.
Tissue Repair and Regeneration Program, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
The crucial role of oxygen during the complex process of wound healing has been extensively described. In chronic or nonhealing wounds, much evidence has been reported indicating that a lack of oxygen is a major contributing factor. Although still controversial, the therapeutic application of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy can aid the healing of chronic wounds. However, how HBO affects reepithelization, involving processes such as keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation, remains unclear. We therefore used a three-dimensional human skin-equivalent (HSE) model to investigate the effects of daily 90-minute HBO treatments on the reconstruction of an epidermis. Epidermal markers of proliferation, differentiation, and basement membrane components associated with a developing epidermis, including p63, collagen type IV, and cytokeratins 6, 10, and 14, were evaluated. Morphometric analysis of hematoxylin and eosin-stained cross sections revealed that HBO treatments significantly accelerated cornification of the stratum corneum compared with controls. Protein expression as determined by immunohistochemical analysis confirmed the accelerated epidermal maturation. In addition, early keratinocyte migration was enhanced by HBO. Thus, HBO treatments stimulate epidermal reconstruction in an HSE. These results further support the importance of oxygen during the process of wound healing and the potential role of HBO therapy in cutaneous wound healing.
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September 16th, 2007
Using angiogenesis in chronic wound care with becaplermin and oxidized regenerated cellulose/collagen.
Nurs Clin North Am. 2007 Sep;42(3):457-65.
Hollister C, Li VW.
Department of Dermatology, University of California, San Diego, 9350 Campus Point Drive, Suite 2B, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
For most of the last century, chronic wound care was a practice of passive techniques, designed to prevent the progression of the wound. In the last decade, however, advanced techniques have focused on improving the wound at the molecular level to accelerate wound healing. Successful modalities include tissue-engineered products, hyperbaric oxygen, negative pressure therapy, electrical stimulation, and recombinant growth factors. This shift in the treatment of wound care saw the development of a recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor, becaplermin, which stimulates granulation and increases the incidence of complete wound closure. Another product is oxidized regenerated cellulose/collagen, which protects growth factors and granulation tissue by inhibiting wound proteases. Used together, an optimal environment for wound healing can be created.
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July 16th, 2008
Normobaric and hyperbaric oxygen therapy for migraine and cluster headache.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008 Jul
Bennett MH, French C, Schnabel A, Wasiak J, Kranke P.
Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, Barker Street, Randwick, NSW, Australia, 2031.
BACKGROUND: Migraine and cluster headaches are severe and disabling. Migraine affects up to 18% of women, while cluster headaches are much less common (0.2% of the population). A number of acute and prophylactic therapies are available. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is the therapeutic administration of 100% oxygen at environmental pressures greater than one atmosphere, while normobaric oxygen therapy (NBOT) is oxygen administered at one atmosphere. OBJECTIVES: To assess the safety and effectiveness of HBOT and NBOT for treating and preventing migraine and cluster headaches. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the following in May 2008: CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, DORCTIHM and reference lists from relevant articles. Relevant journals were hand searched and researchers contacted. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised trials comparing HBOT or NBOT with one another, other active therapies, placebo (sham) interventions or no treatment in patients with migraine or cluster headache. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Three reviewers independently evaluated study quality and extracted data. MAIN RESULTS: Nine small trials involving 201 participants were included. Five trials compared HBOT versus sham therapy for acute migraine, two compared HBOT to sham therapy for cluster headache and two evaluated NBOT for cluster headache.Pooling of data from three trials suggested that HBOT was effective in relieving migraine headaches compared to sham therapy (relative risk (RR) 5.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.46 to 24.38, P = 0.01). There was no evidence that HBOT could prevent migraine episodes, reduce the incidence of nausea and vomiting or reduce the requirement for rescue medication. There was a trend to better outcome in a single trial evaluating HBOT for the termination of cluster headache (RR 11.38, 95% CI 0.77 to 167.85, P = 0.08), but this trial had low power.NBOT was effective in terminating cluster headache compared to sham in a single small study (RR 7.88, 95% CI 1.13 to 54.66, P = 0.04), but not superior to ergotamine administration in another small trial (RR 1.17, 95% CI 0.94 to 1.46, P = 0.16). Seventy-six per cent of patients responded to NBOT in these two trials.No serious adverse effects of HBOT or NBOT were reported. AUTHORS’ CONCLUSIONS: There was some evidence that HBOT was effective for the termination of acute migraine in an unselected population, and weak evidence that NBOT was similarly effective in cluster headache. Given the cost and poor availability of HBOT, more research should be done on patients unresponsive to standard therapy. NBOT is cheap, safe and easy to apply, so will probably continue to be used despite the limited evidence in this review.
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June 16th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment attenuates the pro-inflammatory and immune responses in apolipoprotein E knockout mice.
Clin Immunol. 2008 Jun 30
Kudchodkar B, Jones H, Simecka J, Dory L.
Department of Molecular Biology and Immunology, The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, 3500 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA.
Chronic hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy significantly attenuates atherosclerosis in New Zealand white rabbits as well as the apoE knockout (KO) mice, independent of plasma lipid concentrations and lipoprotein profiles. Because atherosclerosis has many features of a chronic inflammatory disease, in which both cell-mediated and humoral immune responses participate, we examined the effect of HBO treatment on various aspects of the immune response. We now demonstrate that in apoE KO mice, HBO treatment significantly reduces the circulating levels of antibodies to (MDA)LDL, both in the IgG and IgM class, as well as the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response to oxLDL challenge. Furthermore, HBO treatment results in a profound attenuation in the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in response to an inflammatory stimulus (LPS), which is accompanied by a marked increase in the constitutive production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 by spleen cells, independent of antigen specificity, as indicated by polyclonal activation of T cells. Our results demonstrate that HBO treatment results in the dampening of T and B cell-mediated responses to oxLDL or inflammatory stimuli
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April 18th, 2008
Effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on patients with adhesive intestinal
obstruction associated with abdominal surgery who have failed to
respond to more than 7 days of conservative treatment.
Hepatogastroenterology. 2008 Mar-Apr
Ambiru S, Furuyama N, Kimura F, Shimizu H, Yoshidome H, Miyazaki M, Ochiai T.
Surgical Center, Chiba University Hospital, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8677, Japan. ambiru-s@umin.ac.jp
BACKGROUND/AIMS: To investigate the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy on patients with adhesive intestinal obstruction who have failed to respond to more than 7 days of conservative treatment. METHODOLOGY: Six hundred eighty-five patients, who were admitted a total of 879 times for adhesive intestinal obstruction, were divided into groups according to the treatment and interval between the first day of the therapy and clinical symptoms of obstruction; tube decompression therapy within 7 days after appearance of clinical symptoms (Group I: n = 321), clinical symptoms that have persisted for less than 7 days before the start of HBO therapy (Group II: n = 498), and for more than 7 days (Group III: n = 60). RESULTS: The overall resolution and mortality rates in the cases of adhesive intestinal obstruction were 79.8% and 2.2% in Group I, 85.9% and 1.4% in Group II, and 81.7% and 1.6% in Group III, respectively. Group II had significantly better resolution rates than Group I (odds ratio 1.6, p < 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: HBO therapy may be useful in management of adhesive intestinal obstruction associated with abdominal surgery, even in patients who fail to respond to other conservative treatments. HBO therapy may be a preferred option for treatment of patients for whom surgery should be avoided
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June 18th, 2008
Effect of hyperbaric oxygen on acute graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.
Zhongguo Shi Yan Xue Ye Xue Za Zhi. 2008 Jun
Song XY, Sun LN, Zheng NN, Zhang HP.
Department of Pathophysiology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China.
The objective of this study was to investigate the function and mechanism of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) in antagonizing acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) and improving the rate of survival. The lethally irradiated C57BL/6 recipients were injected with bone marrow and lymphocyte of spleen from BALB/c donors and were treated with HBO, cyclosporine A (CsA) and methotrexate (MTX). T lymphocytes and subsets, adhesion molecules and cytokines were detected by flow cytometry, ELISA and RT-PCR respectively. The results showed that the survival rate in HBO group was much higher than that in allogenetic bone marrow transplantation (allo-BMT) group and CsA + MTX group; the numbers of CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+), CD4(+)CD11a(+), CD4(+)CD18(+), CD8(+)CD11a(+), CD8(+)CD18(+) lymphocytes in spleen were decreased markedly by HBO and CsA + MTX (p < 0.05); the levels of IL-2 and TNFalpha mRNA and their serum concentrations in HBO group were much lower than those in allo-BMT group but were higher than those in CsA + MTX group; the levels of IL-4 and IL-10 mRNA in HBO group were much higher than those in allo-BMT group and CsA + MTX group. It is concluded that HBO has more remarkable advantage in improving the rate of survival than CsA + MTX, its mechanism of anti-aGVHD is tightly correlated with the transform of T cell and its subsets and the expression of adhesion molecules and cytokines.
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May 18th, 2008
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment restores sudden hearing loss in a patient with Fabry disease.
ORL J Otorhinolaryngol Relat Spec. 2008
Frantz MC, Pontz BF, Arnold W.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Munich, Germany. m.frantz@lrz.tum.de
Fabry disease is an X-linked inherited disorder of glycosphingolipid metabolism due to the deficient activity of a lysosomal enzyme, alpha-galactosidase A. The resultant systemic accumulation of sphingolipids can lead to progressive and sudden hearing loss alongside renal, cardiac and cerebrovascular complications. Although replacement therapy seems to be beneficial for cochlear function, few data are available regarding treatment of sudden hearing loss. This case report describes the course of a unilateral sudden hearing loss in a young (15-year-old) male patient and its improvement following hyperbaric oxygen treatment. 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel
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May 18th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy and liver transplantation.
HPB (Oxford). 2007
Muralidharan V, Christophi C.
University of Melbourne Department of Surgery, Austin Hospital Melbourne Australia.
Liver transplantation is the treatment of choice for end stage liver disease and is often used for primary liver malignancies. The main limitation of its wider application is the availability of suitable donor organs. The use of marginal donor organs, split-liver transplantation and living-related liver transplantation techniques contribute to increase the donor pool. However, the use of these techniques is associated with a higher risk of post transplantation organ dysfunction, predominantly due to ischaemia, preservation and reperfusion injury (IPRI). A number of studies have demonstrated that hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy influences IPRI and consequential acute cellular rejection. This article reviews the rationale of HBO therapy in the field of transplantation with particular emphasis on liver transplantation.
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May 18th, 2007
Long-term results of the use of hyperbaric oxygenation in patients with acute myocardial infarction
Kardiologiia. 2007
Dotsenko EA, Salivonchik DP, Kozyro VI.
Effect of hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO) on mortality and rate of development of reinfarctions during 24 month follow-up was studied in 129 otherwise conventionally treated patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). These patients were randomly divided into control (n=65) and intervention (n=64) groups. In the latter group treatment was supplemented with course of HBO. This course consisted of 6 HBO sessions in a single-place chamber (isopression for 40 min at working pressure 0.03 MPa o.d.) starting from day 4 – 6 of the disease. The use of HBO in combination with traditional course of drug treatment significantly reduced rate of reinfarctions (control group – 19%, intervention group – 5.3%, p < 0.05) and increased survival (control group 86.2%, intervention group 94.7%) during 2 years after hospital discharge. Maximal effect on survival was seen during first 0.5 years (91.4 and 100% in control and intervention groups, respectively, p=0.05)
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October 18th, 2007
Clinical case report: treatment of a central retinal vein occlusion with hyperbaric oxygen.
Undersea Hyperb Med. 2007 Sep-Oct;
Wright JK, Franklin B, Zant E.
720th Special Tactics Group, Hurlburt Field, FL, USA.
A case of retinal central vein occlusion (CRVO) in a 43-year-old man is presented in which hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) was used as the only treatment method. CRVO is a relatively common cause of visual loss, with hypertension, diabetes, glaucoma and hypercoagulable conditions identified as risk factors. The patient in this report had none of these risk factors and declined treatments other than hyperbaric oxygen. HBO2 was effective in sustaining the ischemic retina and controlling retinal edema until the retina revascularized and vision stabilized. The initial visual acuity in the left eye was 20/200 (corrected), and after two hyperbaric treatments it was 20/30 (corrected). Following three months of HBO2 treatments the vision stabilized to 20/20 (corrected) in the affected eye. Treatment considerations in using HBO2 as adjunctive therapy for CRVO are early institution of treatment, and continuation of HBO2 until the retinal edema has resolved and vision has stabilized.
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May 18th, 2007
Clinical study on acupuncture combined with hyperbaric oxygenation for improving balance function of cerebral infarction
Zhongguo Zhen Jiu. 2007 Jan;27(1):12-4.
Xing J, Wang YJ, Li YR.
Rehabilitation Department of Shijiazhuang Central Hospital, Hebei, China.
OBJECTIVE: To observe effect of acupuncture combined with byperbaric oxygenation on balance function of cerebral infarction. METHODS: Seventy-two cases were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group, 36 cases in each group. The control group were treated with routine medicine and hyperbaric oxygenation, and the treatment group with acupuncture on the basis of treatment method of the control group. Berg balance scale (BBS) was used for investigating changes of balance function before and after treatment in the patient of cerebral infarction. RESULTS: After treatment, the balance function improved in the two groups, with more significant improvement in the treatment group. And increase of motor function in the treatment group was more rapid than that in the control group (P<O. 01). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture combined with hyperbaric oxygenation can overall and synchronously rehabilitate sense and motor functions, significantly improve balance disturbance in the patient of cerebral infarction, with unique therapeutic effect on dysopia and dysacusis for the patient of cerebral infarction at the early stage.
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May 18th, 2008
Effect of large dose hyperbaric oxygenation therapy on prognosis and oxidative stress of acute permanent cerebral ischemic stroke in rats.
Neurol Res. 2008 May
Xue L, Yu Q, Zhang H, Liu Y, Wang C, Wang Y.
Department of Hyperbaric Oxygenation, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the therapeutic effect and the oxidative stress effect of 9 and 18 hour hyperbaric oxygenation therapy (HBOT) protocols on the earliest stage of acute permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rats. METHODS: The permanent MCAO model of rats was used. The animals were randomly divided into 9 and 18 hour HBOT groups, as well as a control group. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (1) The Garcia neurological grading system was used to assess the therapeutic effect of hyperbaric oxygenation therapy; (2) the infarct volume was calculated with the 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) pathologic staining and NIH Image J software 24 and 120 hours after MCAO; (3) the level of reactive oxygen species determined by superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) in ischemic brain tissue were separately examined at the 18, 48 and 120 hour post-ischemia time points using spectrophotometry. RESULTS: (1) There were significant improvements in the neurobehavioral outcome of the rats in the 9 and the 18 hour groups, as compared with rats from the control group (p<0.01); (2) cerebral infarct volume decreased 63-64% in the rats of 9 hour group and 51-66% in the 18 hour group at the 24 and 120 hour time points, as compared with that of the control group; (3) the SOD levels of the 9 and 18 hour groups were remarkably lower than those of control group after both 18 and 48 hours (p<0.01 and p<0.05); (4) the MDA level of the 9 and 18 hour groups were both remarkably lower than the control groups, especially at 18 hours (p<0.05). Meanwhile, the MDA level in the 9 hour group was remarkably lower than both the 18 hour group and the control group (p<0.01 and p<0.05); (5) the level of NO in both hyperbaric oxygenation therapy groups were remarkably higher than that of the control at 18 and 48 hour time points (p<0.01). While the level in 18 hour group was remarkably lower than that of 9 hour group at 18 hour time point (p<0.05). At the 120 hour mark, the NO levels were basically the same in all the three groups. CONCLUSIONS: (1) The two protocols of large dose hyperbaric oxygenation therapy are highly efficient in reducing infarct volume and improving neurobehavioral outcome in permanent MCAO rats within the earliest stages of stroke; (2) increased duration of hyperbaric oxygenation therapy does not appear to equate to improved outcomes; in fact, the longer duration may aggravate the oxidative stress in ischemic tissue.
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May 18th, 2008
Up-regulated HIF-1alpha is involved in the hypoxic tolerance induced by hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning.
Brain Res. 2008 May 30
Peng Z, Ren P, Kang Z, Du J, Lian Q, Liu Y, Zhang JH, Sun X.
Department of Diving Medicine, Faculty of Naval Medicine, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, 200433, PR China.
Hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning (HBO-PC) has been shown to be effective in preventing hypoxic injuries in many animal models. The aim of the present study was to examine the hypoxic tolerance induced by HBO-PC and to explore the role of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) in a global hypoxia model. Male mice received HBO-PC before hypoxia exposure and swimming. HBO-PC significantly prolonged the survival time and the tolerance time of swimming under normobaric hypoxia. HBO-PC increased the protein content of HIF-1alpha and erythropoietin (EPO) in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus and prevented the changes of blood brain barrier (BBB) permeability and brain edema caused by hypoxia exposure. The results suggested that HBO-PC induced hypoxic tolerance in mice via up-regulation of HIF-1alpha and its downstream gene.
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April 18th, 2008
Effect of hyperbaric oxygenation on the differentiation of implanted human neural stem cells into neurons in vivo
Zhongguo Dang Dai Er Ke Za Zhi. 2008 Apr
Bai J, Luan Z, Zhou CL, Qu SQ, Jiang Y, Wang ZY.
Department of Pediatrics, First Hospital of Peking University, Beijing 100034, China.
OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO) on the differentiation of the implanted human neural stem cells (hNSCs) into neurons in neonatal rats following hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD). METHODS: HIBD model was prepared by ligation of the left common carotid artery, followed by 8% hypoxia exposure in 7-day-old Sprague-Dawley rat pups. Three days later, the rats received implantation of hNSCs into the left cerebral ventricles. Then the survived rats were randomly divided into two groups: transplantation alone and transplantation+HBO (n=8 each). HBO treatment was administered (1.8 ATA, 1 hr once daily for 10 days) in the transplantation+HBO group 1 hr after hNSCs transplantation. Brains were removed 10 days after transplantation. Frozen coronal sections were prepared for immunofluorescence analysis to detect the neural differentiation of the transplanted cells in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. RESULTS: Differentiated neurons of implanted cells distributed mainly in the cortex and the hippocampus of the injured side. There was no difference in the number of neurons in the cortex between the two groups, while the number of neurons in the hippocampus significantly increased in the transplantation+HBO group compared with that in the transplantation alone group (231.4+15.1 vs 162.6+5.6; P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: HBO treatment may promote the differentiation of implanted hNSCs into neurons in the hippocampus of neonatal rats following HIBD.
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March 18th, 2008
Hypoxic tumor cell radiosensitization: role of the iNOS/NO pathway.
Bull Cancer. 2008 Mar
De Ridder M, Van Esch G, Engels B, Verovski V, Storme G.
Oncologisch centrum UZ Brussel, Department of Radiation Oncology, Laarbeeklaan 101, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium. Mark.Deridder@uzbrussel.be
Hypoxia is a common feature of the tumor microenvironment and a major cause of clinical radioresistance. During the last decades, several strategies to improve tumor oxygenation were developed such as breathing high oxygen content gas under hyperbaric conditions (3 atmosphere) and improving tumor perfusion by nicotinamide, in combination with carbogen breathing and accelerated radiotherapy to counteract tumor repopulation (ARCON). Other strategies to overcome hypoxia induced radioresistance are the use of hypoxic cell radiosensitizers, which mimic oxygen and enhance thereby radiation damage (e.g. the nitroimidazoles) and bioreductive drugs, which undergo intracellular reduction to form active cytotoxic species under low oxygen tension (e.g. mitomycin C and tirapazamine). A meta-analysis of all randomized trials in which some form of hypoxic modification was performed, showed an improved local control and survival, especially in cervix and head-and-neck cancer. Nevertheless, none of the discussed strategies are used in clinical routine because of feasibility and toxicity issues. We developed an alternative strategy that takes advantage of the microenvironment of solid tumors for tumor specific radiosensitization. The inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) may be induced by bacterial LPS or its derivate lipid A, is expressed by a variety of solid tumors and generates NO at high rates inside tumor cells. This local production of NO results in efficient hypoxic tumor cell radiosensitization, at non-toxic extracellular concentrations of NO. In addition, iNOS is transcriptionally upregulated by hypoxia and proinflammatory cytokines such as interferon-gamma. Hence, we proposed the pro-inflammatory tumor infiltrate as a new target for radiosensitizing strategies and identified two mechanisms: First, tumor associated immune cells (macrophages, T/NK-cells) are a source of mediators that may induce the iNOS/NO pathway inside tumor cells. Second, tumor associated macrophages can produce high levels of NO that may radiosensitize bystander tumor cells. Our ongoing research is focused on combining immunostimulatory and radiosensitizing strategies.
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January 18th, 2008
The Oxygen effect: an old new target?
Cancer Radiother. 2008 Jan
Lartigau E, Dewas S, Gras L.
Département Universitaire de Radiothérapie, Centre Oscar-Lambret et Université Lille-II, 3, rue Frédéric-Combemale, Lille, France. e-lartigau@o-lambret.fr
The Oxygen effect plays a key role in cellular response to ionizing radiations. From many years, tumour hypoxia is a limiting treatment factor. Multiple ways to interact with free radicals have been developed. The increase in tissue oxygenation has a limited impact. Radiosensitizing agents as nimorazole or gadolinium have a clinical benefit. Tirapazamine or AQ4N, bioreductive agents, are not routinely used. New agents through the HIF-1 and the endothelial cell pathways are currently being developed. Studies on the expression of endogenous markers of hypoxia could be useful tools to predict tumour response to the treatment
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January 18th, 2008
Hyperbaric oxygen improves capillary morphology in severe acute pancreatitis.
Pancreas. 2008 Jan
Cuthbertson CM, Su KH, Muralidharan V, Millar I, Malcontenti-Wilson C, Christophi C.
Department of Surgery, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
OBJECTIVES: This article aims to determine the effect of acute pancreatitis on microvascular morphology and the impact of treatment with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO). METHODS: Sixty-seven male Wistar rats were induced with acute pancreatitis by retrograde bile duct injection. Rats were randomized to 12-hourly HBO or control treatment. Two rats in each group were killed at baseline and 24, 48, and 72 hours postinduction, and a cast of the pancreatic microvasculature was examined using scanning electron microscopy. RESULTS: Normal pancreatic vasculature is a dense network with a consistent capillary diameter. In acute pancreatitis, mean capillary diameter is increased at 24 hours (P < 0.001) and further increased at 48 hours (P = 0.007). From 24 hours, diameter heterogeneity is increased (P < 0.001) and capillary density is reduced (P < 0.001). Hyperbaric oxygen has a significant effect on vascular morphology changes from 48 hours after induction. Capillary diameter and heterogeneity of diameter are decreased by HBO (both P < 0.001). Capillary density is increased by HBO at 48 and 72 hours (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In acute pancreatitis, structural capillary diameter and heterogeneity of diameter increase and capillary density decreases. These parameters are all improved by HBO treatment. Hyperbaric oxygen treatment normalizes the pancreatic microvasculature after acute pancreatitis and may be a potentially effective treatment of this disease.
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July 4th, 2008
Hyperbaric oxygen induces placental growth factor expression in bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells.
Life Sci. 2008 Jul 4
Shyu KG, Hung HF, Wang BW, Chang H.
Division of Cardiology, Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
The bone marrow is home to mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that are able to differentiate into many different cell types. The effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) on MSCs is poorly understood. Placental growth factor (PlGF) is an attractive therapeutic agent for stimulating revascularization of ischemic tissue. HBO has been shown to improve diabetic wound healing by increase circulating stem cells. We hypothesized that HBO induces PlGF expression in bone marrow-derived MSCs. The MSCs were obtained from adult human bone marrow and expanded in vitro. The purity and characteristics of MSCs were identified by flow cytometry and immunophenotyping. HBO at 2.5 ATA (atmosphere absolute) significantly increased PlGF protein and mRNA expression. The induction of PlGF protein by HBO was significantly blocked by the addition of N-acetylcysteine, while wortmannin, PD98059, SP600125 and SB203580 had no effect on PlGF protein expression. However, the specific inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase, L-NAME did not alter the PlGF protein expression induced by HBO. HBO significantly increased the reactive oxygen species production and pretreatment with N-acetylcysteine significantly blocked the induction of reactive oxygen species by HBO. HBO significantly increased the migration and tube formation of MSCs and pretreatment with N-acetylcysteine and PlGF siRNA significantly blocked the induction of migration and tube formation by HBO. In conclusion, HBO induced the expression of PlGF in human bone marrow-derived MSCs at least through the oxidative stress-related pathways, which may play an important role in HBO-induced vasculogenesis.
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July 24th, 2008
Neuroprotective effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in brain injury is mediated by preservation of mitochondrial membrane properties.
Brain Res. 2008 Jul 24
Palzur E, Zaaroor M, Vlodavsky E, Milman F, Soustiel JF.
Acute Brain Injury Research Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Recent experimental data have shown that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) was associated increased Bcl-2 expression at the injury site that correlated with reduced apoptosis. We hypothesized that HBOT mediated enhancement of Bcl-2 expression and increased intracellular oxygen bio-availability may both contribute to preserve mitochondrial integrity and reduce the activation of the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis. For this purpose, a cortical lesion was created in the parietal cortex of Sprague-Dawley rats by dynamic cortical deformation (DCD) and outcome measures in non-treated animals were compared with that of HBOT treated rats. Morphological analysis showed a profound reduction in neuronal counts in the perilesional area and a marked rarefaction of the density of the axonal-dentritic network. In treated animals, however, there was a significant attenuation of the impact of DCD over perilesional neurons, characterized by significantly higher cell counts and denser axonal network. In mitochondria isolated from injured brain tissue, there was a profound loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential (Deltapsi(M)) that proved to be substantially reversed by HBOT. This finding correlated with a significant reduction of caspases 3 and 9 activation in HBOT treated animals but not of caspase 8, indicating a selective effect over the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis. All together, our results indicate that the neuroprotective effect of HBOT may represent the consequence of preserved mitochondrial integrity and subsequent inhibition of the mPTP and reduction of the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis.
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May 18th, 2008
Hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning induces tolerance against brain ischemia-reperfusion injury by upregulation of antioxidant enzymes in rats.
Brain Res. 2008 May
Li J, Liu W, Ding S, Xu W, Guan Y, Zhang JH, Sun X.
Department of Neurology, Changhai Hospital,174 Changhai Road, Shanghai 200433, PR China.
The present study examined the hypothesis that cerebral ischemic tolerance induced by hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning (HBO-PC) is associated with an increase of antioxidant enzyme activity. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (250-280 g, n=74) were divided into sham, middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 90 min, and MCAO plus HBO-PC groups. HBO-PC was conducted four times by given 100% oxygen at 2.5 atmosphere absolute (ATA), for 1 h at every 12 h interval for 2 days. At 24 h after the last HBO-PC, MCAO was performed and at 24 h after MCAO, neurological function and Nissl Staining were performed to evaluate the effect of HBO-PC. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content, activity of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px) sampled from the hippocampus, ischemic penumbra or core of cortex were measured. HBO-PC decreased mortality rate, improved neurological recovery, lessened neuronal injury, reduced the level of MDA and increased the antioxidant activity of CAT and SOD. These observations demonstrated that an upregulation of the antioxidant enzyme activity by HBO preconditioning plays an important role in the generation of tolerance against brain ischemia-reperfusion injury.
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May 18th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment attenuated the decrease in regional glucose metabolism of rats subjected to focal cerebral ischemia: a high resolution positron emission tomography study.
Neuroscience. 2007 May 11;146(2):555-61.
Lou M, Zhang H, Wang J, Wen SQ, Tang ZQ, Chen YZ, Yan WQ, Ding MP.
Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310009, People’s Republic of China. loumingxc@vip.sina.com
Cerebral hypoxia may be the main component of cell damage caused by ischemia. Previous studies demonstrated a neuroprotective effect of early hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment in various animal models of focal cerebral ischemia. Neuropathologic study showed that exposure of HBO may prevent cell death in ischemic cortex. In the present study, we aimed to assess cellular function of ischemic rat brain after HBO treatment by means of a high-resolution positron emission tomography scanner (microPET) used specifically for small animal imaging. The male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), with the regional cerebral blood flow monitored in vivo by laser Doppler flowmetry. One hour after ischemia, HBO therapy (3 atm absolute, 1 h) was initiated. Local cerebral glucose utilization in the ischemic area was measured before, 1 h and 3 h after ischemia, with 2-[(18)F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (FDG) as a tracer. Neurological deficits and infarct volumes were assessed at 24 h after ischemia. Our study showed that early HBO therapy significantly reduced infarct volume of brain 24 h after ischemia. Moreover, glucose utilization in the ischemic area underwent a severe decrease during 1-3 h after MCAO, while the early HBO treatment significantly attenuated the decrease in cerebral metabolic rate of glucose in the ischemic core of the cortex compared with controls. We report for the first time the application of microPET to quantify the rates of glucose metabolism in the ischemic core of rats exposed to HBO. Our results suggest that the early exposure of HBO can partially reverse the downward trend for glucose utilization in the ischemic core, which might contribute to the reported beneficial effects of early HBO therapy on permanent cerebral ischemia.
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May 18th, 2007
Preconditioning with hyperbaric oxygen attenuates brain edema after experimental intracerebral hemorrhage.
Neurosurg Focus. 2007 May 15;22(5):E13.
Qin Z, Song S, Xi G, Silbergleit R, Keep RF, Hoff JT, Hua Y.
Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2200, USA.
OBJECT: Preconditioning with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) reduces ischemic brain damage. Activation of p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinases (p44/42 MAPK) has been associated with preconditioning-induced brain ischemic tolerance. This study investigated if preconditioning with HBO2 protects against intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH)-induced brain edema formation and examined the role of p44/42 MAPK in such protection. METHODS: The study had three experimental groups. In Group 1, Sprague-Dawley rats received two, three, or five consecutive sessions of preconditioning with HBO2 (3 ata, 100% oxygen, 1 hour daily). Twenty-four hours after preconditioning with HBO2, rats received an infusion of autologous blood into the caudate. They were killed 1 or 3 days later for brain edema measurement. Rats in Group 2 received either five sessions of preconditioning with HBO2 or control pretreatment and were killed 24 hours later for Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses. In Group 3, rats received an intracaudate injection of PD098059 (an inhibitor of p44/42 MAPK activation) before the first of five sessions of preconditioning with HBO2. Twenty-four hours after the final preconditioning with HBO2, rats received an intracaudate blood infusion. Brain water content was measured 24 hours after ICH. RESULTS: Fewer than five sessions of preconditioning with HBO2 did not significantly attenuate brain edema after ICH. Five sessions of preconditioning with HBO2 reduced perihematomal edema 24 and 72 hours after ICH (p < 0.05). Strong p44/42 MAPK immunoreactivity was detected in the basal ganglia 24 hours after preconditioning with HBO2. Intracaudate infusion of PD098059 abolished HBO2 preconditioning-induced protection against ICH-induced brain edema formation. CONCLUSIONS: Preconditioning with HBO2 protects against brain edema formation following ICH. Activation of the p44/42 MAPK pathway contributes to that protection. Preconditioning with HBO2 may be a way of limiting brain injury during invasive neurosurgical procedures that cause bleeding.
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September 18th, 2007
Pressure-related increase of asymmetric dimethylarginine caused by hyperbaric oxygen in the rat brain: a possible neuroprotective mechanism.
Neurochem Res. 2007 Sep;32(9):1586-91.
Akgül EO, Cakir E, Ozcan O, Yaman H, Kurt YG, Oter S, Korkmaz A, Bilgi C, Erbil MK.
Department of Biochemistry, Gülhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey.
A decrease in nitric oxide availability in the brain tissue due to the inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity during the early phases of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) exposure was found to be involved in hyperoxic vasoconstriction leading to reduced regional cerebral blood flow. We hypothesized that the concentration of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), may be an important factor during this hyperoxic vasoconstriction state. Rats were exposed to 1, 2 and 3 atmospheres pure oxygen for two hours. A fourth group of animals served as control. Asymmetric dimethylarginine, L-Arginine and nitrite/nitrate (NOx) concentrations were measured from deproteinized rat brain cytosols. In rat brains exposed to 3 atmospheres O2, ADMA and L-Arginine levels were found to be significantly higher and NOx significantly lower than control levels. Additionally, statistically significant correlations between ADMA and L-Arginine, and ADMA and NOx concentrations were detected. In conclusion, this is the first study indicating increased ADMA levels in rat brains exposed to HBO. The simultaneously decreased NOx values suggest that ADMA elevation resulted in NOS inhibition and therefore may be responsible for the early phase hyperoxic vasoconstriction.
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January 18th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen improves long-term learning-memory deficits and brain injury in neonatal rat with hypoxia-ischemia brain damage
Sichuan Da Xue Xue Bao Yi Xue Ban. 2007 Jan;38(1):73-7.
Liu XH, Zhao YL, Ma QM, Zhou XH, Wang Y.
Department of Pediatrics, the First Affiliated Hospital in Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710061, China.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) on long-term learning-memory disabilities and brain injury induced by hypoxia-ischemia in neonatal rat. METHODS: In the study, eighteen rats aged seven days were divid into three groups: (1) sham-operated group (SHAM), (2) hypoxia-ischemia group (HIBD), (3) HBO-treated hypoxia-ischemia group (HIBD + HBO). In hypoxia-ischemia groups, left common carotid artery was ligated permanently on the seventh postnatal day, two hours after the procedure; hypoxia (92% nitrogen and 8% oxygen) was induced for 2 h. In HBO-treated hypoxia-ischemia group, single HBO (2. 5 ATA, 1.5 h) was administered at one hour after the hypoxia period. At the six weeks old, step-down inhibitory avoidance test was used to evaluate the short-term memory of rats. Learning and long-term spatial memory deficits were tested using Morris water maze at eight weeks old of rats. Rats were then perfused and brains removed for macroscopic and microscopic evaluation. The cell density of hippocampus were used to evaluate the degree of brain injure. RESULTS: In HIBD+HBO group, the latency to step down the platform was significantly longer than that of HIBD group (P<0.05); in HIBD+HBO group, the mean latencies to reach the platform was significantly shorter than that of HIBD group (P < 0.05); in HIBD + HBO group, the time spent in the target quadrant was significantly lower than that in HIBD group (P<0.05). Histopathological evaluation demonstrated that HBO also significantly diminished brain injury and decreased the cell loss of hippocampal CA1 region. CONCLUSION: Single HBO (2.5 ATA, 1.5 h) can significantly improve long-term learning-memory deficits and attenuate brain injury in rats with hypoxia-ischemia brain damage.
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March 18th, 2008
New therapy now available
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 By Camille Hughes, Guard Staff Writer
Eight years ago, Sara Street didn’t know if she would ever see again. The 20-year-old woman was lying in bed when she was bitten by a brown recluse. “I saw it on my shirt and I just grabbed it and threw it,” she said. “I didn’t even realize at the time I had been bitten. I never felt it at all.” But by morning not only was her eye red, watery and swollen, the entire right side of her face from forehead to chin was completely numb. “I found the spider on the floor where I’d thrown it and recognized it was a brown recluse,” Street said. “That’s when I really started to get scared because I’ve seen some horrible scars on people who have been bitten before.” According to arachnidologists, the venom of a brown recluse spider is extremely poisonous, even more potent than a rattlesnake’s venom. The amount of venom injected is very small but it is extermely toxic to cells and tissues. Once released into the victim’s skin, the venom destroys cell membranes, leading to the breakdown of skin, fat, and blood vessels. This process leads to eventual tissue death in the areas surrounding the bite. “All I could think about was having this giant hole in my face where my eye was supposed to be and not being able to see,” Street said. Her stepmother took her to the emergency room, where she spent hours being examined by several doctors. “At first they looked at the spider and didn’t think it was a brown recluse,” Street said. “One after the other they kept coming in my room and looking at my face, and looking again. But when it kept getting worse, they finally decided it must be a brown recluse. “That’s when Dr. (David) Posey told us I needed to go to Baptist Hospital,” she continued. “He told me that a hyperbaric chamber was the only way my eye could be saved.” Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the use of oxygen under pressure, has been used to assist wound healing for more than 40 years. Patients are placed in a chamber to receive the therapy. Street joked that it looked like a giant coffin. “That coffin saved my sight,” she said. But now, someone with Street’s type of wound won’t have to travel to Jonesboro or Little Rock for treatment. The wound center at White River Medical Center in Batesville has recently begun to offer hyperbaric oxygen therapy for patients who qualify. According to statistics, oxygen is one of the most powerful agents available to modern medicine. More than five million Americans suffer from chronic open wounds that can become seriously infected and in some cases, require amputation. Most complications are a result of limited blood flow to the area which prevents healing. The treatments increase circulation and encourage the growth of healthy tissue. “We’re really fortunate to have this therapy available in the Batesville area,” said Tami Holloway, registered nurse and director of the Hyperbaric Wound Center at WRMC. “There are only a few other facilities in the state that offer it.” The hyperbaric chamber works by completely surrounding the patient with 100 percent oxygen at above-normal atmospheric pressure. This increases the amount of oxygen in the patient’s blood and, in the case of wounds, allows red blood cells to pass more easily though the plasma into the wound to heal it from the inside out. Simply put, the oxygen is food for the cells. “It offers the possibility of healing chronic wounds that have, in the past, been unresponsive to more traditional therapy,” Holloway said. Still, only 1 percent of the patients they see at the wound clinic will actually go into the chambers. “The numbers are like maybe one in 100,” Holloway said. “Because it really is a commitment. They have to be here Monday through Friday every single day, and it’s a two-hour treatment each time. A lot of patients, especially the elderly, just can’t do that,” she said. But for some, like Street, the commitment would be worth it no matter what the inconvenience. “I only had to do it for one day so it wasn’t bad for me,” she said. “But the number of days wouldn’t have mattered as long as it saved my eye. … I’m living proof of what those chambers can do.”
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August 18th, 2008
Hyperbaric treatments said to cure, help treat a myriad of ills
08-03-2007 06:07; by Rebecca L. Sandlin
Mark Merrell was at his wits’ end. His young daughter, Maddie, was diagnosed as profoundly autistic. “We tried a number of therapies and been to a number of different places, and my kid’s pretty sick, and you accept that, and there’s just nothing anybody can do for her,” Merrell explained. “So we basically had to become our own advocates.” After investigating alternative therapies for his child, Merrell wound up in Florida, where he learned that hyperbaric medicine is being used to treat autism. “Many people like myself who are all right here in this Fishers-Carmel-Zionsville area, many of our doctors are not in Indiana,” he said. “Our backs are against the wall. We need help, and we can’t wait another six months for this study or another year for that drug. We need help now.” After using the hyperbaric chamber about 4 to 5 days per week, Merrell said the results of the treatments on Maddie have been astounding. “We can go out in public with our daughter now and nobody notices us … nobody looks at us. The change has been amazing,” he said. Merrell believes in the treatments so much he not only installed a hyperbaric chamber in his home, but also left his job as a police officer to open Oxyspa, a salon located at 11559 Cumberland Road in Fishers that features hyperbaric oxygen treatments. Oxsyspa is one a few locations in the Midwest that offers the treatments, using an FDA-approved hyperbaric chamber. When hyperbaric chambers were first installed in some Indianapolis-area hospitals, they were mainly used for treating burn victims or those who had carbon monoxide poisoning. Hospital chambers use a much greater pressure than what can be found at Oxyspa, but Merrell said the lighter pressure, non-invasive and non-pharmaceutical treatments are beginning to come into their own as an alternative therapy. David Darbro, M.D., the medical director who provides medical oversight at Oxyspa, became a believer in hyperbaric treatments after he changed roles and became a patient when he suffered a stroke three years ago. The stroke affected his speech. “You would not have been able to have understood me, were we speaking three years ago,” he said. Darbro drew a picture of a hyperbaric chamber to get his wishes across. After undergoing the pressurized oxygen treatments, he no longer takes medications and has no difficulty communicating. “It just made sense, that when you check people’s oxygen, especially with chronic degenerative disorders, they seem to be low on oxygen and didn’t have any energy,” he said. Darbro said mild hyperbaric therapy is indicated in treatments of several illnesses and conditions, including migraine, heart problems and diabetes. It is also used to treat wounds, sports injuries, osteomyelitis, skin grafts, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis. Darbro, who specializes in holistic medicine, said the treatments benefit the patient by helping to increase the body’s ability to absorb oxygen. “Your breathing is the key to opening the door to energy,” he said. “The idea of pressurized oxygen – putting oxygen under pressure – is the key, because it’s putting more oxygen in the fluid – the plasma – in between the red blood cells.” There are only 13 FDA-approved uses of hyperbaric treatments, so insurance may not cover treatments for other medical conditions. Articles of studies and other findings about the treatments have appeared in the Journal of American Medical Association. One article, published in 1990, calls hyperbaric treatments a controversial therapy. Another article, published in 2004, suggests hyperbaric oxygen therapy improves survival and limb salvage of patients with necrotizing soft tissue infections. A session at Oxyspa costs $80 for a treatment lasting around an hour, with packages available. A doctor’s prescription or order is mandatory before a client can begin therapy. Merrell said physicians from several disciplines including neurologists have referred their patients to the spa for treatments. He added the spa also follows FDA regulations by charting each client’s progress and condition during treatment. Cindy Beuoy, of Indianapolis, has been using the chamber since February and has noticed some benefits from regular visits. “I try to stay as healthy as I can. I’m a real pro-active person on health,” she said. “I found that, using the chamber, it helps me to sleep better. I exercise – I do strength training exercise three times a week and it helps my muscles recover faster from the exercise. I just feel my overall vitality is greater.”
Posted in Autism, Bones, Brain & Head Injuries/Concussions/TBI, Cerebral Palsy, Infections, Migraines/headaches, Multiple Sclerois (MS), Pain/Inflammation/arthritis, Sports Injuries, Stroke, diabetes, heart Disease/ heart attack/Cardiovascular | Comments Off
October 5th, 2007
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy becomes mainstream medicine
Oct. 5th 2007
By Kyle Alspach, Enterprise staff writer BROCKTON—
Once viewed with skepticism, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is becoming a mainstream medical practice and getting plenty of interest in southeastern Massachusetts. Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton plans to open a hyperbaric center next summer in Stoughton, and two facilities are already operating in the region. Oxygen has long been accepted as a treatment for smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning. But hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which involves breathing pure oxygen in a high-pressure environment, is increasingly being used to heal chronic wounds, reverse damage from radiation therapy and even treat conditions like autism and cerebral palsy. “It’s just now becoming more accepted and widely prescribed. That’s why more facilities are getting chambers,” said Dr. Grace Doherty, medical director at the Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Center in Randolph. That center opened in 2001 and was one of the first in Massachusetts. Morton Hospital and Medical Center in Taunton began offering hyperbaric treatment last fall, and Good Samaritan’s center is slated to open in June. During the hyperbaric treatment, patients breathe 100 percent oxygen — five times the normal amount — for several hours inside a chamber with a pressure greater than sea level. The pressure forces the oxygen into the bloodstream, killing bacteria and stimulating the growth of new blood vessels. The effect is a much speedier healing process, said Dr. Joseph Tito, medical director of the Center for Wound Healing at Morton Hospital, which has three hyperbaric chambers. Many of those treated with hyperbaric chambers in Taunton suffer from chronic wounds related to diabetes, which are normally difficult to heal and can end up requiring amputation. Hyperbarics are also helping counteract the effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Tito said. The patient remains conscious during the treatment and often watches a movie or reads a book. The experience is painless, but patients sometimes feel discomfort in their ears due to the pressure. Patients often need between 10 and 40 treatments to show major improvement. But, Tito says, “it clearly does work.” And it’s working for a surprising range of other conditions, according to some practitioners. At the Randolph center, neurological disorders such as autism and cerebral palsy are both being treated successfully with hyperbaric chambers, said Doherty, the director. In the case of autism — a rapidly growing behavioral disorder — effective treatments have been hard to find. Yet after receiving hyperbaric therapy, many autistic children are calmer, more talkative and show improved cognitive skills, according to Doherty. “Nobody really knows why it works with autism,” she said. “But it’s becoming more and more accepted by autism doctors.” There are no scientific studies to support the use of hyperbaric chambers for autism, cerebral palsy and many other conditions, critics point out. And the Food and Drug Administration, citing information from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, only recognizes hyperbaric chambers as effective for treating injuries, wounds and infections. But even these treatments are fairly cutting edge. The Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston opened the state’s first hyperbaric oxygen center in 1995. Millie Doten, a hyperbaric nurse at the hospital, said only about five or six hospitals in the state have opened hyperbaric centers since then. Caritas Good Samaritan would be the latest. The hospital plans to offer three hyperbaric chambers and a staff of four to five doctors at its new Wound Care Center, to be located at the former Goddard Memorial Hospital on Sumner Street in Stoughton. “We’ve seen there’s a need for this kind of wound care in the immediate area,” said Kevin Griffin, director of respiratory care at Good Samaritan. Griffin said Medicare and some private insurance companies cover hyperbaric oxygen therapy for certain, but not all, conditions. Yet all indications are that the treatment is only going to become more common in the future, experts say. “It’s growing in leaps and bounds,” Griffin said.
- Hyperbaric oxygen therapy treats chronic wounds, radiation-chemotherapy damage, autism, cerebral palsy and other conditions.
- Morton Hospital in Taunton and the Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Center in Randolph have hyperbaric oxygen chambers.
Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton plans to open a hyperbaric center next summer in Stoughton.
Posted in Autism, Cancer, Carbon Monoxide (CO) Poisoning, Cerebral Palsy, Cutting-Edge Hospitals/Wound Centers, Infections, News, Sports Injuries, Wound Healing, diabetes, heart Disease/ heart attack/Cardiovascular | Comments Off
March 31st, 2008
Hyperbaric therapy coming to Austin
Monday, March 31, 2008
Someday soon, Haelen Hyperbarics will reach across the nation and its hyperbaric oxygen therapy will be an everyday part of the nation’s health care, if the management’s vision comes true. The Hilton Head Island, S.C.-based company already has its hyperbaric chambers set up at two island health-care centers. The company plans to open centers in Austin; Raleigh, N.C.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; Savannah, Ga.; and Memphis, Tenn., by the end of the year, said Andrew Kolb, company president. A hyperbaric chamber is an airtight chamber that patients lie in for about an hour, breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized atmosphere. The extra oxygen helps speed recovery on everything from broken bones to neurological disorders, Kolb said. Hospitals also have the chambers, but they are used typically for only a few things covered by insurance, such as wound recovery or tissue damage from radiation. At Haelen’s Hilton Head locations, services are elective, meaning they’re not covered by insurance and patients pay out of pocket. Popular reasons for using the facilities include treatment for chronic pain from conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, sports injuries and recovery from cosmetic surgery, Kolb said.
Posted in Anti-Aging, Autism, Bones, Brain & Head Injuries/Concussions/TBI, Cancer, Cerebral Palsy, Infections, Multiple Sclerois (MS), News, Pain/Inflammation/arthritis, Sports Injuries, Stroke, Surgery/Cosmetic Surgery, Wound Healing, diabetes, heart Disease/ heart attack/Cardiovascular | Comments Off
October 23rd, 2007
Winthrop adding hyperbaric chambers
October 23, 2007, 5:44 PM EDT
By KATHLEEN KERR | kathleen.kerr@newsday.com
Winthrop University Hospital is betting an aging baby boomer population means more patients will be dealing with chronic wounds resulting from diabetes and circulatory problems. So Winthrop recently added three hyperbaric chambers, which help with wound healing, to its disease-fighting arsenal. There are plans for a fourth chamber to be added later. Hyperbaric chambers allow patients to breathe 100 percent oxygen while they’re enclosed in a pressurized chamber. The pure oxygen, the hospital says, helps the growth of new blood vessels within a wound; that, in turn, helps with healing. “It’s going to give us another market to penetrate,” said Garry Schwall, a Winthrop vice president. “This is a new business venture we embarked upon.” The new chambers in Winthrop’s wound healing center make it more competitive with other Long Island hospitals that offer hyperbaric therapy. The new hyperbaric chambers are roomier than their predecessors, and patients can read, sleep or watch TV.
Posted in Anti-Aging, Cutting-Edge Hospitals/Wound Centers, Infections, News, Wound Healing, diabetes, heart Disease/ heart attack/Cardiovascular | Comments Off
April 6th, 2008
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy revolutionizing medical field
April 6th 2008 Gino Troiani
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) is the medical use of pure oxygen at higher than atmospheric pressure. Its concept is simple. Increased pressure enables higher amounts of oxygen to enter the blood stream, therefore, jumpstarting the healing process. Red blood cells are the most common type of blood cell in the human body. They are responsible for delivering oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body via the blood stream. In many cases, increased oxygen can be key to many recovery processes. According to Michael Neumeister, M.D. in an article published in 2005, the first hyperbaric chambers date back to the late 1600s. These chambers were used in the treatment of ailments such as inflammations, scurvy, arthritis, and rickets, but due to a lack of technology, minimal effectiveness was recorded. Still, throughout the years, many scientists kept playing with the idea, hoping one day for a medical breakthrough. That breakthrough came in the early 1900s when Dr. Orville Cunningham discovered that patients with cardio vascular disorders improved significantly when moved to lower altitudes with denser air. With this finding, Cunningham took it upon himself to design a modern electric hyperbaric chamber, standing eight feet in diameter and thirty feet long. Cunningham used his chamber to treat multiple patients who suffered from the Spanish flu, and experienced tremendous results. However, because of the great depression in the 1930s, he was no longer able to continue his research. In the 1970s, similar chambers were designed and used by the armed forces to treat many diving and decompression illnesses such as the bends and caisson disease, suffered by Navy and Air force soldiers. Today these illnesses only represent three percent of all of the total uses for HBOT. In the last 35 years, curiosity has led many doctors and scientists to conducted experiments on the effectiveness of hyperbaric therapy. Many studies have proven to show significant recovery increases in head injuries, myasthenia gravis, myocardial infarction, free skin grafts, sudden deafness, burns, glaucoma, leg ulcers, heart attacks, strokes, cerebral palsy, and carbon monoxide poisoning. HBOT is also commonly used to help treat autism
Posted in Anti-Aging, Autism, Brain & Head Injuries/Concussions/TBI, Cerebral Palsy, Hearing, Infections, News, Pain/Inflammation/arthritis, Stroke, Wound Healing, diabetes, heart Disease/ heart attack/Cardiovascular | Comments Off
July 24th, 2008
Oxygen therapies may ease headache pain
Jul 24, 2008 by Amy Norton
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Two forms of oxygen therapy may help manage two types of debilitating headache pain, a new research review suggests. In a review of nine small clinical trials, the researchers found that hyperbaric oxygen therapy showed promise for halting pain during migraine attacks. A similar treatment — normobaric, or normal-pressure, oxygen therapy — eased pain in people suffering from cluster headaches. The findings are published in the Cochrane Library, a publication of the Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Both migraines and cluster headaches can be debilitating. Migraines typically cause throbbing pain in one area of the head, often accompanied by nausea, vomiting or sensitivity to light and sound. Cluster headaches cause sharp pain on one side of the head, including the eye; that lasts anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours and come in waves — repeated attacks over a few weeks to months, followed by a period of no symptoms. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves breathing pure oxygen in a sealed, pressurized chamber. With normobaric oxygen therapy, patients breathe pure oxygen from a portable unit under normal conditions. Normal-pressure oxygen has long been used for severe headache pain, and there is some evidence that hyperbaric oxygen could be helpful, but few controlled clinical trials have evaluated the therapies. For the current study, researchers were able to find nine clinical trials performed between 1981 and 2004 involving a total of 201 patients. When they combined data from three, they found that hyperbaric oxygen therapy was six times more likely to relieve migraine pain than a “sham” (placebo) therapy used for comparison. Similarly, one study showed that normal-pressure oxygen outperformed sham therapy in easing cluster headache pain. Another trial found the therapy to be effective, but not better than the medication ergotamine. None of the two forms of oxygen therapy prevented future headache attacks, however, lead researcher Dr. Michael H. Bennett, of Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick, Australia, told Reuters Health. He said that based on the evidence, people with cluster headaches who are not finding quick or complete relief from their medication could ask their doctor about normobaric oxygen therapy. Hyperbaric oxygen could be an option for stubborn migraine pain, according to Bennett, but it may not be all that practical. “Unfortunately, this treatment will be relatively expensive and may not be covered by medical insurance or provided by local medical services,” he said. “It is likely that hyperbaric oxygen will only be used in the very worst cases where relief is not obtained by any alternative method.” Exactly why oxygen therapy works is not entirely clear. Bennett noted that migraines involve blood vessel dilation in the head, and hyperbaric oxygen causes vessels to constrict, which may help explain the pain reduction. There is also evidence that hyperbaric oxygen blocks the “chemical
