Increased oxygen levels in the blood plasma can potentiate the body tissues to become more concentrated with oxygen creating a more effective environment to support normal healing and cell function.
In addition to helping patients heal post surgery and athletes recover from injuries and fatigue, Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy can provide effective adjuvent treatment for some medical conditions. Mild Hyperbaric Therapy helps to reduce hypoxic areas (insufficient oxygen for function) of the body to improve metabolic function of cells, support and strengthen immune response and enhance normal healing processes.
Autism, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Diabetic and Ischemic wounds, and other neurological and immune suppressed based conditions may be improved with the application of Mild Hyperbaric Therapy. Functional and cognitive abilities can respond positively to treatment. Saturating the body with oxygen may boost the immune system, can increase brain and neural function, and can help cells and tissues heal and perform effectively. Additionally, hyperbaric therapy has been shown to increase the volume of stem cells circulating in the body. Stem cells have the ability to modify their form to assist in the repair and recovery of a variety of injured tissues, including those in the brain.
Our state-of-the-art hyperbaric oxygen beds are spacious and provide an opportunity for healing in the most comfortable environment possible.
Ischemic stroke creates hypoxic areas of the brain (cerebral tissue), affecting cognitive and physical function. This injury to the brain damages or destroys blood vessels, leading to compromised circulation. Surrounding tissue may receive sub-optimal levels of oxygen and blood flow, leading to decrease in healthy brain function. Applications of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to patients having suffered stroke show some promising developments. Mild Hyperbaric Therapy stimulates the formation of new blood vessels which improves the delivery of oxygen and blood flow to the damaged brain tissue and can result in permanent improvements in structure and brain function. Re-establishing oxygenated areas of the brain has in some cases shown beneficial results including improvements in memory, cognition, movement and speech. Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has been shown to help improve neurological function. Patients who received high volume treatment continued to show improved signs of function.
In the United Kingdom where hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been used to help treat MS for over 30 years, there are currently more than 100 hyperbaric centres treating more than 10,000 patients. Research has shown that the inflammation typical of MS significantly impairs the delivery of oxygen by the blood. 'MS flair' can cause a severe depletion of oxygen to the affected areas of the body, limiting the ability to reduce inflammation and inhibit scar or plaque formation. With the application of Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Red Blood cells may become more malleable when they are saturated with oxygen, and they then can traverse constricted blood vessels more easily to deliver oxygen to injury sites, reducing tissue hypoxia.
Adjuvant therapy with mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy may reduce the spasticity associated with some cases of cerebral palsy. Localised immune response in areas of the brain can show positive signs with reduction of hypo-perfusion and brain hypoxia using Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Cerebral Palsy is always case sensitive but some clinical trials have shown evidence to support improvement with neural and cognitive function.
Children with Autism show clear signs of cerebral inflammation, suggesting that the disease may be associated with activation of the brains immune system. It is unclear whether the brains response (inflammation) is a consequence of disease or a cause of it or both. Autism has a strong genetic component in some families, although other causes are likely to play a role such as birth complications, diet, toxins, and infections.
Studies have suggested that the immune system may be involved, however not all findings support this.
One method of treatment approach and study is to focus on the localised immune response of the environment of the nervous system. Compared with normal control brains, brains of people with autism show evidence of an ongoing inflammatory process in different regions of the brain and in cerebrospinal fluid These findings suggest that the inflammation is localised to specific regions within the brain and not caused by immune system abnormalities from outside the brain.
Treatments with Mild Hyperbaric Therapy indicated the following results (treatment sessions were 20 or more 1.3 ATA, 24% Oxygen) *** Please note that there are no 100% conclusive results in studies done for children with autism to date. Having said that, there is evidence to suggest that more studies should be done as a significant number of children are showing marked improvement after consistent treatment.
Studies indicated that the greater the volume of treatments the longer the improvements lasts.
Improvement in SPECT (brain scan testing) with children with autism, including memory and cognitive functions, including:
- Cognitive ability
- Socialisation
- Sleep
- Calmness
- Decrease in stimming (self-stimulating behaviour)
- Language
According to Dr Julie Buckley, MD, FAAP, lower pressure HBOT (less than 2 ATA) and less oxygen (not 100%) seem to have excellent effect on multiple systems of the body. In particular lower pressures seem to be more beneficial to the injured brain than higher pressures. If you have a special-needs child who suffers from autism, ADD, or ADHD, mild hyperbaric herapy may provide benefits. Studies have suggested that autistic children may have reduced regional cerebral blood flow. Thus, they may have decreased oxygen available for cognitive functioning. Mild hyperbaric therapy significantly increases oxygen tissue saturation and the levels of oxygen available for uptake by the brain.
Environmental toxins have been linked to ADD and ADHD and may exacerbate the symptoms of these conditions. Oxygen acts as a cleansing agent in the body, flushing out toxins and helping cells and tissues to heal from their harmful effects. In addition, increasing the availability of oxygen to the brain through mild hyperbaric therapy can potentially enhance cognitive functioning.
Some parents of special-needs children who have undergone mild hyperbaric therapy have reported that their children are calmer, have fewer mood swings, have better bowel function, and sleep better, among other benefits. Our hyperbaric oxygen beds are large and roomy enough to allow you to join your child during hyperbaric oxygen therapy. You can read to your child, play a game, or watch a DVD with your child during the treatment.
Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy may have the ability as an adjunctive therapy to increase the rate of wound healing and reduce complications associated with some infections and with wound healing.
Due to the healing mechanisms of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, vasoconstriction(High tissue oxygen concentrations cause blood vessels to constrict, which can decrease regional blood flow. In Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy decreased regional blood flow is compensated by the increased plasma oxygen that reaches tissue. This process creates a net effect in reduced tissue inflammation without creating hypoxia (inadequate oxygen levels for normal function). High tissue oxygen concentrations can accelerate the development of new blood vessels in body tissue essential to normal healing. Regenerating tissue cells may function more effectively in a high oxygen environment. These results have proven effective in adjuvant treatment using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on tissue ulcers and skin grafts.
In a hypoxic environment, fibroblasts (cells that synthesize collagen and the extracellular matrix) are unable to function effectively and osteoclasts (regenerating bone cells) are unable to lay down new bone. Collagen deposition and wound healing are directly affected by the amount of available oxygen. Ischemic area wounds (wound areas with poor blood supply) benefit from increased oxygen delivery. Increased oxygen tissue levels allow fibroblasts and osteoclasts to function appropriately.