I recently read a blog entry titled "Why we don’t use hyperbaric oxygen for cerebral palsy but the Chinese do" and it got me thinking once again about hyperbarics and how it has helped our son. The post is a short commentary about hyperbarics and governments' willingness (or unwillingness) to utilize the therapy to treat brain injury.
The blog post references an article, the summary of which is below.
“Treatment with hyperbaric oxygen possibly reduces mortality and neurological sequelae in term neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Because of the poor quality of reporting in all trials and the possibility of publication bias, an adequately powered, high quality randomised controlled trial is needed to investigate these findings. The Chinese medical literature may be a rich source of evidence to inform clinical practice and other systematic reviews.”
-Clinical effectiveness of treatment with hyperbaric oxygen for neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy: systematic review of Chinese literature (published 11 May 2006)
After doing much research (some of which I've written about on this blog) we decided to provide our son with 40 hours of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) when he was 12 months old. Because he responded so well to his first round of HBOT, including decreased spasticity and increased vision, we went back for 40 more sessions 6 months later, this time coupled with intensive pediatric therapy. We witnessed continued improvements. Our son is now over 2 years old and we recently made the decision to purchase a soft chamber to provide him with hyperbaric air therapy (HBT or HBAT) at home.
We made this decision in part because the studies I am aware of have shown improvements in patients treated with pressurized room air (HBT or HBAT) as well as patients breathing oxygen in a hyperbaric environment (HBOT). Due to the increased atmospheric pressure, both groups benefit from increased oxygen absorption.
"The results of the only truly randomized trial were difficult to interpret because of the use of pressurized room air in the control group. As both groups improved, the benefit of pressurized air and of HBOT at 1.3 to 1.5 atm should both be examined in future studies."
-Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Brain Injury, Cerebral Palsy, and Stroke
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A therapeutic concept you should explore is coherent light therapy, considering all the evidence of how well muscles respond to light, particularly laser-focused light. Definitely helps with my muscle control issues.
ReplyDeleteI am currently in the process of treating a handful of children with Hyperbaric Oxygen who suffer from hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and have developed CP as a result. I am a HUGE believer in the use of HBOT in what are considered "off label" indictations, HOWEVER, I would STRONGLY CAUTION any/all individuals about who administers HBOT, the facility in which it is administered, the types of chambers that are used and if the facility in which the chambers are being used are in accordance with the NFPA, chapter 99. I will be the 1st one to tell you that the "soft chamber" or chambers like that in which you zipper it up are a joke. You are wasting your money and being taken advantage of by those who are selling it. The FDA does NOT regulate HBOT and therefore anyone can go out and buy a chamber and use it. That is like playing Russian Roulette. You need to use real HBOT chambers such as Perry Baromedical or Seachrist and make sure that properly trained individuals are running those chambers. The 2 best places to research those running the treatments are to look at the UHMS & the NBDHMT. I have been in this industry for over 13 years and have unfortunately seen more scams than I care to remember. PLEASE BE CAREFUL....you don't want to waste your money, but more importantly, you are placing your life and/or loved one's life in someone elses hands.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Eric. Yes, we haven't done HBOT in a soft chamber, only HBAT (no additional O2) at 1.3 ATA. The study linked above and this new study indicates that both HBOT and HBAT can be effective. The increased atmospheric pressure, both groups benefit from increased oxygen absorption.
DeleteAm about to try HBOT hyperbaric oxygen therapy to my one of the triplet babies (40 DAYS OLD) she got an insult to brain (HIE) hypoxic ischaemic enecephalopathy to thalamus and basal ganglia .. HBOT currently not available in my UAE am going to CAIRO to do it in Aerospace institute where i did my Master degree .. The hyperbaric specialist assured me it will improve her condition (inshalla) .
ReplyDeleteI will be happy to update others with the outcomes .. Peoples who wantd to follow up with me may contact me at 00971502633399 or my email dr.alrumaithi@gmail.com
We need to improve this current study and its correlation to the HIE .. Thank you for the author.
Any information regarding light therapy kindly inform me
Thank you for your comment! Sorry for the delay in responding, but did you notice improvements?
DeleteAndy,
ReplyDeleteThank you for all of this valuable information. Which model chamber did you buy at home? Are you finding it effective still? Would you be willing to do a review of it? Shopping for chambers is so challenging for us!
Thank you!!
We ended up with an Oxyhealth Vitaeris 320. We don't use it nearly as much as we'd like to, but when we do he enjoys it.
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