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Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is a painless procedure in which a person is exposed to increased pressure, thus allowing greater absorption of oxygen throughout body tissues. This increased pressure allows more oxygen to reach the cells within the body thus contributing to the many healing and therapeutic benefits. The concept of Hyperbaric oxygenation has been in existence as early as 1662 but has only gained recognition in conventional medicine over the past 40 years.
How Does Hyperbaric Oxygen Work?
A pressurized environment allows a greater amount of gas (in this case oxygen) to be dissolved into a liquid (in this case plasma). This is known as Henry’s Law of Physics. For instance, when a carbonated beverage is canned at the factory, a great amount of pressure is applied so that more carbon dioxide can be dissolved into the beverage, which causes carbonation. When the beverage is opened, the pressure is released, and the amount of carbonation decreases over time resulting in a “flat” beverage.
It is this same law that applies to hyperbaric therapy. Greater amounts of oxygen are absorbed into the plasma, synovial fluid and cerebral fluid when the body is pressurized using a hyperbaric chamber. In addition to the greater absorption, the oxygen is also allowed to reach areas in the body that are difficult to reach without the increased pressure.
Is Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Painful?
Hyperbaric therapy is typically a relaxing and comfortable experience where users can either read or sleep inside the chamber. It is a painless treatment, but some people experience a “popping” of their ears, similar to the feeling experienced when changing altitudes in an airplane. People can alleviate this condition by chewing gum, popping their ears, or using “ear planes”. It is a normal sensation that is experienced when pressurization changes are felt when air is forced behind the eardrum through the Eustachian tube.
Mild Hyperbaric Therapy As an Immune Modulator
Gunnar Heuser, M.D., Ph.D., Olga Aguilera, M.D., Sylvia Heuser, M.A., Shayna Kasbee, B.A., and Tanya Peach, B.S.
Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (mHBO) in a portable chamber, at 1.3 ATA and 24% oxygen, administered daily for 10 consecutive sessions (one hour each) improves brain function as measured by S.P.E.C.T. brain scan and a test for attention and reaction time.
Patients often report a sense of well-being and youthfulness after mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
We wondered whether immune function is positively affected by mHBO. We chose apoptosis (a function of programmed cell death) and natural killer cell activity, a function of immune surveillance as parameters in nine patients.
Our preliminary data showed that 10 mild hyperbaric oxygen sessions can positively affect immune function: natural killer cell function increases and apoptosis values decrease. More sessions may be needed to affect positive results in an even higher percentage of patients.
We conclude that mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy can improve immune function. Since apoptosis numbers increase with age the reversal of that process may have significance with regard to aging.
These S.P.E.C.T. scans were taken from a person with impaired brain function before and after 10 hyperbaric treatments at 1.3 ATA. The treatments were administered for one hour per day for five consecutive days for two weeks. The darker blue and purple areas indicate lower activity. The lighter red and yellow areas indicate high activity.
Before mHBOT
After mHBOT
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Mild Hyperbaric Therapy May Be Used To Treat the Following Conditions:
- ADD
- ADHD
- Allergies
- Altitude Sickness
- Aspberger’s Syndrome
- Asthma
- Autism
- Autoimmune Disease
- Bacterial Infections
- Boost Immune Function
- Brain Injury
- Cerebral Palsy
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Circulation
- Crohn’s Disease
- Diabetic Complications
- Digestive Disorders
- Disc Herniation
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Fibromyalgia
- Frequent Flying
- Hypoxia
- Lupus
- Lyme Disease
- Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Muscle/Tendon Pain
- Non-Healing Wounds
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Sleep Disorders
- Sports Injury Recovery
- Stress/Anxiety
- Stroke
- Surgical Recovery
- Viral Infections
- Wound Healing
What Is the Mechanical Effect of Increased Pressure?
Any free gas trapped in the body will decrease in volume as pressure exerted on it increases (Boyle's Law). Reduction in bubble size may allow it to pass through the circulation, or at least travel into a smaller vessel which will reduce the size of any resulting infarction. This effect is useful in the management of gas embolism and decompression sickness.
Flooding the body with oxygen forces the rapid elimination of other gases, thus reducing damage caused by toxic gases such as carbon monoxide. The elevated pressure used during hyperbaric oxygen therapy further accelerates the elimination process.
Hyperbaric oxygen acts as an alpha-adrenergic drug. The vasoconstriction can result in reduction of edema following burns or crush injuries. Even with a reduction in blood flow, enough extra oxygen is carried by the blood so a net increase in tissue oxygen delivery occurs with hyperbaric oxygen.
Anaerobic bacteria do not contain the natural defenses to protect them from the super oxides, peroxides and other compounds formed in the presence of high oxygen tensions. More important, many of the body's bacterial defense mechanisms are oxygen dependent. When tissue oxygen drops too low, effective ingestion and killing by phagocytic leukocytes is retarded. Reoxygenation of those tissues allows phagocytosis and other host defense mechanisms to come back into play.
Hyperbaric oxygen physically dissolves extra oxygen into the plasma (Henry's Law). The quantity of oxygen carried and transferred to ischemic tissue by the blood is increased. Relieving the ischemia with this increased oxygenation promotes osteoclastic and osteoblastic activity, collagen matrix formation and a breakdown of many toxins. The extra oxygen also helps the ischemic tissue meet the increased metabolic need required by healing processes.
Is It Safe?
Yes! The hyperbaric chamber is completely safe. Since our chamber uses filtering ambient air, it can be used regularly without the danger of oxygen toxicity in the body. The majority of clients report a pleasant, comfortable experience. In addition, mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be a safe adjunct to most other therapies.
Disclaimer: Although mild hyperbaric therapy has been reported to be beneficial for a wide range of conditions, this treatment is not meant as a cure for any condition or disease, and no therapeutic outcomes can be guaranteed.
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