Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a method of administering pure oxygen at greater than atmospheric pressure to a patient in order to improve or correct conditions. By providing pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber we are able to deliver 10-15 times more oxygen then if delivered at sea level or at normal atmospheric levels. Some of the effects this has are to promote the growth of new blood vessels, decreases swelling and inflammation, deactivates toxins, increase the body’s ability to fight infections, clears out toxins and metabolic waste products, and improve the rate of healing. HBOT should be used to compliment conventional therapies and treatments.

For years, conventional medicine thought of HBOT only as a treatment for decompression sickness, however, the use of HBOT is becoming increasingly common in general practice as more doctors become acquainted with new applications. Doctors now realize that HBOT has other uses, including the treatment of non-healing wounds, Carbon Monoxide poisoning, various infections, damage caused by radiation treatments, near- drowning, near-hanging, brain and nerve disorders, cardiovascular disorders; and some digestive system disorders. Unfortunately, in the US there are currently 13 approved indications for HBOT that hospitals will treat.

While most programs limit their hyperbaric treatment protocols to only those 13 indications that are reimbursed by federally funded programs, Hyperbaric Healing Institute’s treatment protocols encompass all indications that have proven beneficial effects. There are approximately 66 applications that have been noted to receive benefit from HBOT, including:

Stroke – There are 1.7 million stroke survivors in this country: survivors who often suffer devastating consequences such as paralysis, a life in a wheelchair, impairments in speech and thought. They could tremendously benefit from hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Since the early 1970’s, scientific journals have reported over 1,000 cases demonstrating a 40-100% rate of improvement for stroke patients treated with HBOT.

Traumatic Brain Injury – According to the CDC, each year an estimated 80,000 Americans survive a hospitalization for traumatic brain injury (TBI) but are discharged with TBI-related disabilities. An estimated 5.3 million Americans are living today with a TBI-related disability. After brain trauma from an accident, brain cells die or become dormant from lack of oxygen. It is thought that many of these cells can be revived through hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The enormous amount of data supporting HBOT as a viable treatment for brain injury has prompted the passage of legislation in Texas that allows for HBOT for acquired brain injury to be paid for by Medicare and insurance.
Cerebral Palsy – The term “cerebral palsy” describes children who experience brain trauma at birth. HBOT can treat the underlying problem in children with cerebral palsy – the damaged brain. The main differences between HBOT and traditional therapies for CP are the rapid gains over time and the impact on cognitive skills, which, in general, are not improved by PT, OT, and speech therapies.
Autism – There are numerous reports of HBOT reducing aggression and improving communication in Autistic patients.

Multiple Sclerosis – A debilitating nervous system disease, multiple sclerosis (MS) results in localized patches of inflammation in the brain and spinal cord, which may eventually scar. There have been hundreds of treatments for MS. In fact, there has never been any disease in which so many treatments have been tried. Unfortunately, some of these treatments produce disastrous results. Of all the treatments ever administered, hyperbaric oxygen is the safest, most effective, and most cost effective. Currently there are 12,000 MS patients being treated at 110 Hyperbaric centers in the United Kingdom.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & Fibromyalgia – Approximately 40 HBO treatments followed by weekly treatments as needed seems to resolve CFS symptoms in a majority of patients, and eventually may resolve them completely.

Wound Healing – For the past 30 years, hundreds of studies have been published testifying to the remarkable healing of wounds with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Diabetic ulcers, burns, fractures and skin grafts, bone damage from radiation exposure, or simply healing from plastic surgery or sports injuries: hyperbaric oxygen works in all these cases. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a wonderful tool in a comprehensive wound-healing program.

Diabetes – Some 14-24% of diabetic patients with ischemic lower-extremity ulcers will require an amputation. Despite much effort toward the prevention of amputation in the past decade, the incidence of lower-extremity amputation in such patients continues to rise. A study conducted in the UK found that hyperbaric oxygen therapy enhanced the healing potential of ischemic, non-healing, diabetic leg ulcers and may be used as a valuable adjunct to conventional therapy when reconstructive surgery is not possible.
Sports Injuries – Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy can significantly increase the rate of recovery for sports related injuries such as sprains and torn muscles.
Cosmetic and Periodontal Surgery – HBO treatments administered pre and post surgery can reduce healing times up to 50%

Autism is a mysterious disease-condition-behaviour disorder which causes a complex neurological disorder that typically occurs within the first 3 years of life, that results in developmental disabilities. Children will seemingly develop normally until 18 -24 months at which time an alarming regression in their development occurs and they may stop speaking and begin to lose interest in their surroundings and interactions with other people. Autism occurs two to four times more frequently in boys than in girls.

There are many theories as to the cause of Autism such as abnormal cerebral blood flow to areas of the brain, high fevers, birth trauma, brain injury, infections, reactions to vaccines (some reports implicate MMR) or lack of oxygen before, during or after delivery. Other theories suggest mineral deficiencies such as calcium, iron and zinc either in utero or after birth or fat and protein deficiencies.

The use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for autism has been used in many countries worldwide. The results are varied and the individual reports from families and health professionals are encouraging. There are many testimonies on the net from families who have taken HBOT for their autistic child with varied results, mostly very encouraging.

HBOT increases the oxygen tissue concentration which increases cerebral blood flow to an area thus enabling the body to restore brain tissue metabolism of oxygen and nutrients, helping restoration of any areas which are suffering from hypoxia. New blood and oxygen begin to stimulate an area, especially one that has viable, recoverable brain cells that are “idling neurons” not knowing what to do instead of function normally. HBOT reduces swelling or excess fluid in the brain that might be pressing on centres of the brain which cause “confusion” in their function ability. HBOT has been demonstrated to exert positive objective changes from a safe, adjunctive therapy that has been overlooked by most healthcare professionals. Parents are encouraged to educate themselves on this new dynamic use of HBOT so they can make informed decisions for the future of their child.

The following stud
y, testimony and article is just an example of the information one can obtain from the internet. The testimony is from one of our patients treated here at Reimer Hyperbaric.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) adjunctive role in the treatment of Autism — Trish Planck, Hyperbaric Clinical Director
Autism is a complex neurological disorder that typically occurs within the first three years of life that results in usually severe developmental disability. Its incidence in the population is estimated to be 1 in 500 with a prevalence of boys to girls of 4 to 1. The ensuing effects of the disease result in severe impairment in areas of social interaction and communication and in some individuals self- injurious behaviour may occur.

Presently there are no effective cures for this disease as little is known as to the etioloby. Diet, psychotropic medications and other regimens have been tried with mixed and often disappointing results. Recently a therapy that has been in and out of favour has been shown to be of possible benefit in the treatment of this disease.

Initial results were objective improvements in a variety of diverse phenomenon. Each child demonstrated global reduction in aggressive behaviour. Parental summaries all stated substantial decrease in tendency to rage or exhibit tantrums. All children were reported to be easier to engage when the parent wished to initiate communication with marked improvement of direct eye contact. All three children enrolled in a school program displayed higher achievement with better performance and less instruction in classroom assignments. All children were improved with regard to understanding verbal commands. Reasoning abilities were noticeably enhanced in all individuals.

Clinical improvement was substantiated by pre and post treatment SPECT SCAN brain imaging which displayed enhanced neurophysiologic function in at least one of the members of this study.

The aim of hyperbaric oxygen therapy as an adjunct therapy was to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment in a series of 40 initial treatments, one or twice daily at 1.5 ata to 1.75 ata using a monoplace Sechrist chamber on 100% oxygen for a total time of 60 minutes per treatment. Patients were treated for 5 days consecutively with two days off. HBOT has been demonstrated to exert positive objective changes on a limited cohort of autistic children as evidenced by subjective and objective parameters. HBOT would seem to be useful and safe adjunctive therapy in the treatment of Autism.

Progress while undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy:

- Major improvement in interactions with family members.

- Plays with family pets.

- Major improvements in understanding verbal commands.

- Beginning to verbally communicate.

- Responds to knocks at the door and answers the door in a normal manner

- Major improvements in balance, especially when he starts to fall, he is able to regain his balance with a
faster response. He cross patterns down the steps without holding on.

- He is no longer raging/destructive of things in the home.

- Sits through movies with more understanding.

- Better understanding of public surroundings.

- When music is played he responds in singing tones.

- Hearing has improved and is no longer required to wear hearing devices.

- Responds to things/awareness-like waiting for the school bus in the morning through the window.

- Plays with various types of toys with more understanding.

- Loves to work in the house and yard with Dad.

- Mimics everything you ask him to do.

- Is able to dress himself, is caring for himself in a independent manner.

- Doing better in school with his assignments.

- Happier child and smiles more.

- Major increase in understanding.

- More eye contact.

- Behavioural changes are easier to handle and function in public place, less aggressive, raging stopped and is much happier.

- New ability to mimic simple vocal sounds-of major importance as pre-language sounds he makes have more tone and syllables.

- Shows more interest and contact with his brother, increase in all interactions with others.

- Accepts new people, places and situations easier.

- Plays with a wide range of toys, instead of only one object.

- Less sound sensitive.

- Higher functioning in all ways.

- Exhibiting receptive manner

- Easier to engage.

- Exhibiting great internalization of emotions.

- Less tantrums.

- Classroom achievement improved.

- Completing work without re-direction and accuracy improving daily.

- Easier to reason with especially in the home environment.

- Open to re-direction with rages.

- Great willingness to work and stay focused through all classroom assignments.

- Much better transitioning, and flexible, open to variety of mediums with little assistance needed.

- Much improved relatedness in sharing his emotions.

Neuroimaging studies of autism have shown abnormalities in the limbic system and cerebellar circuits and additional sites. These finding are not, however, specific or consistent enough to build up a coherent theory of the origin and nature of the brain abnormality in autistic patients. Twenty-three children with infantile autism and 26 non-autistic controls matched for IQ and age were examined using brain-perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with technetium-99m ethyl cysteinate dimer. In autistic subjects, we assessed the relationship between regional cerebral blood flow(rCBF) and symptom profiles. Images were anatomically normalized, and voxel-by-voxel analyses were performed. Decreases in rCBF in autistic patients compared with the control group were identified in the bilateral insula, superior temporal gyri and left prefrontal cortices. Analysis of the correlations between syndrome scores and rCBF revealed that each syndrome was associated with a specific pattern of perfusion in the limbic system and the medical prefrontal cortex. The results confirmed the association of (i) impairments in communication and social interaction that are thought to be related to deficits in the theory of mind (ToM) with altered perfusion in the medial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate gyrus, and (ii) the obsessive desire for sameness with altered perfusion in the right medial temporal lobe. The perfusion patterns suggest possible locations of abnormalities of brain function underlying abnormal behaviour patterns in autistic individuals.

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