With the growing incidence of strokes and heart attacks, medical disabilities for these, and other age-related conditions, are on the rise. Preconditioning the body and its vital organs may be of critical importance for today's aging and disease-ridden society. This new study looked at preconditioning the brain with hyperbaric oxygen therapy and showed that it reduced postoperative cognitive dysfunction. More specifically, they reported, "Hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning has proved to protect vital organs, such as the heart, liver, and brain. ... We conclude that hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning is an effective and feasible method to prevent, alleviate, and improve postoperative cognitive dysfunction, and that its mechanism of action is very complex, involving the stimulation of endogenous antioxidant and anti-inflammation defense systems." <view study> Read Less

Blood sugar control can be extremely difficult for diabetics and is the main reason why they are at higher risk factors for both strokes and heart attacks. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been known to help sensitize insulin levels and thereby help to reduce blood sugar levels. In this study, they took 52 diabetic patients who had just recently had a stroke within the past month and divided them into 2 groups — those who had a stroke within 10 days and those who had their stroke within 30 days. They then gave both groups a series of of hyperbaric oxygen treatments and followed (pre and post) their insulin levels, fasting blood sugars, and hemoglobin A1C levels (which shows longer-term blood sugar control). Both of these groups were able to demonstrate significant improvements in blood sugars with the addition of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. <view study> Read Less

If you are suffering from depression and have had a past history of head injury or concussion, then pay close attention to a new study published in the Journal of World Neurosurgery, 2017. It is very well known that 50% of those people that are afflicted with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) will also suffer from major depression and be put on antidepressants like Prozac. However, this and many other reasons for depression, are clearly related to inflammation inside the brain (neuroinflammation). With knowledge of this information, along with the understanding of the anti-inflammatory properties of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in the brain, researchers carried out a study to help us evaluate and see if HBOT could provide relief for TBI victims suffering from depression. The results demonstrated that HBOT was able to significantly diminish TBI-induced depression-like behavior, through its anti-inflammatory effects in the brain. <view study> Read Less

New study shows that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) helps to improve memory and learning, while at the same time reducing brain damage, in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) brains. More importantly, they looked at preconditioning the brain with just 5 session of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to get these beneficial results. With the growing number of individuals being diagnosed with AD, along with the numerous others that are concerned with the aging of their brains and deterioration in their memory, it looks like hyperbaric oxygen therapy may  provide a valuable relief to those suffering from AD, while still giving hope to those looking to prevent its devastating effects. view study Read Less

Chronic pain is a hot topic in hyperbaric medicine, leading to numerous citations in many prestigious medical journals documenting the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. This study, not only demonstrates support for this procedure, but also gives us new insights to the mechanisms of action <view study> Read Less