Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Neurological Disorders
Stroke
Stroke is a sudden blood flow disturbance to the brain, and is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. The cause of a stroke is due to a bleed or a blockage to any given part of the brain which produces tissue death by starving the brain cells of oxygen. The extent of damage can be minimal to severe and can affect a patients cognitive, sensory and motor abilities. The goal of hyperbaric oxygen therapy is to get as much oxygen into the brain as possible helping to revive oxygen starved brain tissue that was damaged but not destroyed by the stroke. It also stimulates the growth of new blood vessels and repairs the damaged ones, aiding the stroke patient in reduction in spasticity, swelling and improvement in their neurological status. An aggressive and effective approach to treating stroke is the use of hyperbaric oxygen in conjunction with extensive physical therapy.
Cerebral Palsy
Over 500,000 Americans have cerebral palsy, a term that is used to describe a multitude of chronic disorders which effects body movement. The NINDS – NIH, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at the National Institute of Health, states that cerebral palsy is an umbrella-like term used to describe a group of chronic disorders, where faulty development or damage to the motor area in the brain disrupts the brains ability to adequately control movement and posture. These disorders are broken down into four categories: spastic, athetoid, ataxic and mixed forms. Other medical disorders associated with CP are seizures or epilepsy, mental impairment, vision and hearing problems, growth problems, sensation and perception problems. Studies using Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy have shown reduction in spasticity as well as improvements in vision, hearing and speech. These improvements vary from patient to patient.
TBI
Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic Brain Injury is when certain nerve cells in the brain may have been permanentely destroyed. Althought some of the brain may be permanently damaged when a traumatic brain injury occurs a much larger area may be in a dormant state because the amount of oxygen the brain receives has been reduced due to a decrease in blood flow
Swelling of the brain tissue will also occur in a traumatic brain injury Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is believed to increase blood flow to the brain and decrease swelling of the brain tissue causing the dormant cells to be revived indicating a potential for recovery.
Autism
Autism is a developmental disorder which is characterized by difficulties in verbal and non verbal communication, social interactions and unusual repetitive or severely limited activities and interests. Studies have shown that males are four times more likely to have autism than females. Many autistic children seem to have reduced sensitivity to pain, sound, touch and other sensory stimulation. Autism is one of five disorders that fails under the umbrella of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD).
The five disorders under PPD are as listed:
Autistic Disorder
Asperger’s Disorder
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder (CDD)
Rett’s Disorder
PDD – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy helps by increasing the amount of oxygen to the brain and is also found to be a beneficial in inflammatory conditions facilitating improvement in gut disease, yeast and/or bacteria.
Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by a spirochete that is transmitted to humans by a tick bite. This is usually followed by a bull’s eye rash and erythema migrans, with many other flu like symptoms such as painful joints and muscles, headaches, fatigue, swollen glands, sore throat, fever, mental ‘fog’ and many more. If left untreated it can become a severely debilitating disease affecting both neurological and motor abilities. It is recommended that antibiotic therapy be used in conjunction with hyperbaric oxygen and has shone great response, allowing many patients to live more productive lives.
Recommended treatment is a 60 minute treatment twice a day, five days a week followed by a two day rest. It is recommended a series of 30-60 treatments. Patients develop a Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction usually within the first week of treatment which is the Lyme bacteria die-off.
Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, recurrent and progressive illness associated with lesions of the nervous system and is now believe to be an inflammatory disease. Due to the various signs and symptoms and time frame between the initial attacks it is sometimes left untreated for years. A course of treatment should be started as soon as a patient is diagnosed with a regular follow up treatments as needed. Hyperbaric oxygen treatments have shown a favorable response especially in patients with less advanced stages of the disease.
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