On 8/6/2008 mitzy1946 wrote:
Does anyone have any info of the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to treat long term side effects of whole brain radiation? "The most common condition treated at the Jacobi Hyperbaric Medicine Program is tissue injury caused by radiation therapy for cancer of the head and neck. HBOT provides a better healing environment and leads to growth of new blood in a process called re-vascularization."
Now this is amazing The only time Iv heard of it is when I was doing a PEDA, scuba, dive, master, instructor, cause, about 20 years a go. Back then It was called Hyperbaric Medicine. I thought it was just use to treat decompression sickness. It amzing it can treat damage from brain radiation. thats very good to hear as a few patient have come on the CC web site and ask about some thing to help them or a family member. I got this off the net from Wikipedia site addressat at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbaric_medicine
- The increased overall pressure is of therapeutic value when HBOT is used in the treatment of decompression sickness and air embolism.
- For many other conditions, the therapeutic principle of HBOT lies in a drastically increased partial pressure of oxygen in the tissues of the body. The oxygen partial pressures achievable under HBOT are much higher than those under breathing pure oxygen at normobaric conditions (i.e. at normal atmospheric pressure).
- A related effect is the increased oxygen transport capacity of the blood. Under atmospheric pressure, oxygen transport is limited by the oxygen binding capacity of hemoglobin in red blood cells and very little oxygen is transported by blood plasma. Because the hemoglobin of the red blood cells is almost saturated with oxygen under atmospheric pressure, this route of transport cannot be exploited any further. Oxygen transport by plasma, however is significantly increased under HBOT.
The United States, the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, known as UHMS, approved for reimbursement diagnoses for application of HBOT in hospitals. The following approved indications are approved uses of hyperbaric oxygen therapy as defined by the UHMS Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Committee.[1] The Committee Report can be purchased directly through the UHMS
- Air or gas embolism[2]
- Carbon monoxide poisoning[3][4]
- Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Complicated by Cyanide Poisoning[5][6][7]
- Clostridal Myositis and Myonecrosis[8] (Gas gangrene[9][10])
- Crush Injury, Compartment syndrome, and other Acute Traumatic Ischemias[11][12]
- Decompression sickness[13][14][15]
- Enhancement of Healing in Selected Problem Wounds[16][17][18]
- Exceptional Blood Loss[19][20] (Anemia)
- Intracranial Abscess[21][22]
- Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections[23] (Necrotizing fasciitis[24])
- Osteomyelitis[25][26][27] (Refractory)
- Delayed Radiation Injury[28] (Soft Tissue and Bony Necrosis[29][30])
- Skin Grafts & Flaps[31][32] (Compromised)
- Thermal Burns[33][34]
In the United States, HBOT is recognized by Medicare as a reimbursable treatment for 14 UHMS "approved" conditions. An HBOT session costs anywhere from $100 to $200 in private clinics, to over $1,000 in hospitals. More U.S. physicians are lawfully prescribing HBOT for "off label" conditions such as Lyme Disease and stroke and also in Autism and related disorders like ADHD[citation needed]. Such patients are treated in outpatient clinics, however it is unlikely that their medical insurance will pay for off label treatments. In the United Kingdom most chambers are financed by the National Health Service, although some, such as those run by Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centres, are non-profit.
HBOT is controversial and health policy regarding its uses is politically charged. Both sides of the controversy on the effectiveness of HBOT is available in the form of PubMed and the Cochrane reviews[35] and a discussion of "Medical Polemics"[36][37], a discussion of Multiple Sclerosis in particular[38].