Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are the two most common neurodegenerative diseases, together affecting tens of millions worldwide and rising fast as populations age. They are progressive, currently incurable, and carry staggering human and economic costs — so any therapy that might slow or repair the underlying damage is of enormous interest. This study is significant because it pooled the animal evidence to date to see whether HBOT shows genuine “neuro-reparative” potential. Across eight animal studies, HBOT significantly improved cognition and spatial memory, lowered brain inflammation, improved oxidative-stress and mitochondrial markers, and helped preserve the dopamine-producing neurons that are lost in Parkinson’s. This is early, animal-level evidence — not proof for humans — but the consistency across models and the plausible mechanisms make it a meaningful signal worth watching. (Individual study doses were not extracted in the review.) <view study> Read Less

Tissue concentrations of norepinephrine (NE) are markedly decreased in various regions of the brain in Parkinson patients. Not only is NE involved in cognitive operations, "freezing" of gait, tremor, dyskinesia, REM sleep regulation, and other aspects of brain function, but evidence also suggest its role in the neurodegenerative process itself. This study discusses the ability of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to help increase NE levels in the brain; thereby, helping to restore motor deficits in Parkinson’s disease patients <view study> Read Less

Mild or lower pressure hyperbaric oxygen therapy (aka m-HBOT) was able to demonstrate a marked reduction in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) symptoms in just 11 weeks! PD is a common progressive neurodegenerative disease, of which the main neuropathological hallmark is dopaminergic neuronal loss (degeneration or loss of dopamine-producing neuronal cells). When dopamine-producing neurons die, motor functioning is affected and symptoms such as tremor, slowness, stiffness, and balance problems occur. In this 11 week study, m-HBOT at 1.3 ATA (3 hours per day, 3 times per week) was able to protect the dopaminergic neurons from further loss and degeneration. More importantly, researchers observed positive effects in motor function <view study> Read Less