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What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)?

The air that we normally breath is approximately 21% oxygen.  What Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy does is increase the air that you breath to 100% oxygen.  You also breath that increased oxygen at higher pressures.  This forces the oxygen into tissues that may not normally get as much oxygen.

The idea is to improve the body's natural ability to heal itself by providing more oxygen. 

 

Is this approved therapy by the FDA?

This therapy is approved for wound treatment, gangrene, bone infections, burns, carbon monoxide poisoning and diving accidents.  People on their own use this treatment for brain disorders such as cerebral palsy, strokes, brain injury and autism.

 

How does the treatment work?

A person undergoing this treatment enters a chamber of some sort.  The chamber is closed and sealed so the air can be brought up to 100% oxygen and so that the pressures can be raised.  During the pressurization process you may have to clear your ears by yawning or using some other method to keep the pressure behind your ears equal.  Once you reach the pressure you need, then you remain in the chamber for a period of time.  The time can be anywhere from 20 minutes to 90 minutes.

Here are two links to people who have tried Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and have written about it on the Web.  

"An Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy experience"

"Austin's HBOT Quest"

 

Where can I go to get Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

My suggestion is to search the internet for places offering HBOT.  You should be able to find some listing by searching on www.google.com. 

 

Research concerning Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Here is an abstract from a study done testing the effect of HBOT on children with Cerebral Palsy.

 

HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY FOR CEREBRAL PALSY
AND STATIC ENCEPHALOPATHY OF CHILDHOOD

 

Paul G. Harch, M.D., Keith Van Meter, M.D., Paul Staab, M.D., Sheldon Gottlieb, Ph.D., Baromedical Research Institute, New Orleans, LA and Family Physicians Center, Marrero, LA

 

Introduction: From 1992 to 1999, 26 children with CP or static encephalopathy were evaluated under a unique neuororehabilitation program of the Baromedical Research Institute (BRI) of New Orleans to see if the sequence of baseline SPECT brain scan, single HBOT at 1.5 ATA, and repeat scan could identify potentially recoverable brain tissue and predict neurological improvement after repetitive HBOT.

 

Methods: 25 children ages 11 months to 11 years, average 2 to 4 years, were evaluated with the Neubauer/Gottlieb technique of scan-dive-scan using Sechrist 2500 monoplace hyperbaric chambers and a Picker Prism 3000 triple head SPECT scanner. HMPSO or ECD was injected prior to conscious sedation with short-acting sedatives. Raw scan data was analyzed by computer assisted method. Children underwent physical exams, videotaping, and the parents were interviewed pre and post treatment. HBOT was administered at 1.5 ATA/90 minutes in the first 4 patients and 1.5 ATA/60 minutes in the remainder, q.d. or b.i.d. for 80 HBOT’s with at least a 3 week break at 40 HBOT’s.

 

Results: 18 children completed the entire treatment and evaluations. 8 are still under treatment. Computer analysis of SPECT is in process. Generally, scan showed a diffuse heterogeneous appearance that smoothed after one and after a series of HBOT’s and was consistent with improvement in one or more of 7 functions: awareness, tone, motor (fine and gross), communication, balance/gait, overall cognition, and swallowing. Two of the 18 showed minimal or no neurological change. Complications include mild over-sedation in 4 of 70 conscious sedations for scanning.

 

Conclusions: HBOT was well tolerated in children with CP or static encephalopathy. A single HBOT caused qualitative improvements in SPCET brain imaging in most children, which predicted clinical and final SPECT improvement with repetitive HBOT. Placebo effects were non-existent due to lack of cognition.

 

Email Lists on HBOT

http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/HBO4RKids
This is an email list that is working to get FDA approval for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for children with disabilities.

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