Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a used to treat difficult wounds in many cutting-edge hospitals and wound centers mainly due to it’s ability to promote growth of new tissue and blood vessels. Researchers have now taken this further to see if the healing effects of oxygen can also be shown for the intervertebral discs. This is a debilitating condition for a wide range of the population and are seen in more as people age and also for those who have suffered physical trauma to the area (ie, contact sports or accidents and falls). The following study shows us the mechanism involved in hyperbaric oxygen’s application for treating degenerative discs. Since this treatment modality is non-invasive, it should now get considerable attention for an adjunct treatment modality for disc degeneration <view study> Read Less

Neurogenesis is the growth and development of the nervous system with new neurons. This process has been shown to be significantly enhanced through the application of hyperbaric oxygenation therapy, particularly following trauma to the brain or central nervous system. A recent article titled “Hyperbaric oxygen therapy promotes neurogenesis: where do we stand?” has just been published. In this article, proposed physiological mechanisms of action are looked at, in a way to gain better understanding of oxygen’s role in neurogenesis <view study> Read Less

Radiation therapy is a standard of care for many patients undergoing cancer treatments; however, when pelvic radiation is performed, it’s successes also can come with a debilitating side-effect where the bladder becomes inflamed leading to a painful and bleeding condition called hemorrhagic cystitis (HS). This is a very difficult condition to treat. Promising new research, just published in March 2011, is now giving hope for these sufferers. This study clearly demonstrates successful therapy with long-term follow up when patients were treated with hyperbaric oxygenation therapy. Here, a standard program of just 40 hyperbaric sessions were given to 25 patients who were diagnosed with HS. More importantly, all patients had already failed conventional therapy. So get ready for the results–ALL 25 PATIENTS IMPROVED AND WERE SUCCESSFULLY TREATED. Furthermore, after close to 2 year follow up, no regressions were shown. The results of this study are truly remarkable and makes for a strong argument to add hyperabric oxygenation therapy to standard of care and a primary treatment option for those with HS. The authors of the study support this previous statement by adding in the fact that hyperbaric oxygen is highly effective and safe, non-invasive therapy for HC secondary to pelvic radiation <view study> Read Less

More research is demonstrating the importance of combining hyperbaric oxygen therapy with conventional drug therapy for cancer for sensitizing the cancer cells, ultimately leading to more cancer death. Here, this study showed us that just elevating the pressure and combining a promising anticancer agent caused more destruction to the cancer cells <view study> Read Less

The Journal of Orthopaedic Research just published on article demonstrating the beneficial effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on human degenerated intervertebral disks. During the course of the study, the researchers were able to evaluate physiological changes associated with regeneration of tissue, thus proposing various methods of action <view study> Read Less