Following spinal cord injuries, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been shown to produce a positive effect on healing, but it still remains unclear of the main mechanisms of action. This study followed spinal cord injuries treated with HBOT and demonstrated that this group had higher and longer expressions of VEGF (Vascular endothelial growth factor), which is responsible for the growth of new blood vessels. This follows many other studies and citations, particularly with non-healing wounds, where HBOT facilitates the body to produce more blood vessels to damaged tissue, for long terms benefits <view study> Read Less

Light therapy (infrared wavelength at 810 nm) has shown benefits for a wide variety of neurological conditions, like strokes, TBI's, neurodegenerative diseases, and even spinal cord injuries. This study may explain how this therapy can have such a diverse application, as researchers noted that the localized light application to the cortical region of the brain, produced a very significant increase in ATP. It was also found in these regions that there was a raising mitochondrial membrane potential, reducing intracellular calcium concentrations, reducing oxidative stress and reducing nitric oxide levels. These changes that were found are associated with protecting the brain cells from excitotoxicity (which is normally seen following brain injuries or in neurodegenerative disorders, and even in spinal cord injuries) <view study> Read Less

Following muscle damage, older rats were subjected to light therapy and this procedure demonstrated to be effective for muscle regeneration. The researchers of this study concluded, and showed evidence, that this effect occurred directly through its anti-inflammatory effects <view study> Read Less

Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin (Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine), knowing the critical role of nitric oxide in angiogenesis (new blood vessel growth/collateral circulation), and understanding low level light's influence (670nm) on increasing nitric oxide levels, decided to perform a study to see if low level light therapy was able to independently effect nitric oxide levels and angiogenesis. As expected, the study concludes with supporting light therapy's ability to independently increase nitric oxide levels and increase new blood vessel growth in oxygen-deficient areas. This study is now published in the journal of molecular and cellular cardiology <view study> Read Less

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is now being used in conjunction with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy for it’s ability to help increase the sensitivity of both treatments for malignant brain tumors. The authors go over some of the new protocols being deployed, with one of them being radiation therapy given within 15 minutes from hyperbaric exposure. This allows more oxygen into the brain, thus making the radiation therapy more effective. In addition, carboplatin-based chemotherapy combined with hyperbaric oxygen show a significant advantage in survival for recurrent malignant brain tumors <view study> Read Less