Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Research

Edmonton Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

What does the research say? 

The Naturopathic Doctors at our Edmonton office have crawled through available evidence for Hyperbaric Oxygen in non-UHMS conditions. 

The data available for non-UHMS Hyperbaric indications is made of controlled studies, uncontrolled studies and case reports.

Fortunately, for many of these same conditions data for Naturopathic therapies often also exists therefore it is theoretically possible to synergize the treatments for additive benefits.

Our clinic is a leader in Edmonton in part because we heavily rely on evidence based therapies, of which, Hyperbaric Oxygen is deeply rooted in research data.

We've organized the Hyperbaric Therapy research according to sections: Autoimmune, Cardiovascular, Neurological, Longevity and Athletics.

Autoimmune:

Despite, the extremely common prevalence of autoimmune conditions efficacious and durable options still elude us.

Hyperbaric Treatment has been shown to decrease expression of Th17, IL-17 and increase the expression of Treg cells.

Mechanistically, enzymatic antioxidants such as SOD, GPx and CAT are upregulated in response to generation of reactive oxygen species.

Furthermore, Hyperbaric Oxygen has suppressive effects on secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and levels of PGE2 and COX2. 

Lastly, Hyperbaric Oxygen stimulates the release of stem cells and may contribute to the repair of focal areas of damage. 

Hyperbaric Oxygen has a wealth of data supporting its use in autoimmune disease. 

Psoriasis has a few published cases successfully treated by Hyperbaric both as a standalone treatment and as an adjunct to phototherapy. 

Our Naturopathic Doctors have a lot of experience with Psoriasis in our Edmonton patients which involves identification of food allergens, and improving gut health. 

Rheumatoid Arthritis has a handful of trials with dozens of RA patients benefitting from Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment with good clinical results decreased serum concentration of immune complexes, reductions in pain and swelling with improved mobility.

Some RA patients recovered completely with Hyperbaric medicine. 

Our Edmonton Naturopaths, as in Psoriasis, use foods as the foundation as its been reported that food allergy is an etiological factor in some patients with RA. 

Inflammatory Bowel Disease has substantial data with regards to efficacy and Hyperbaric Oxygen.

A systematic review by Dulai 2014 based on 17 studies involving 613 patients with IBD of which 286 were diagnosed as Crohn’s disease and 327 as Ulcerative Colitis found an overall response rate in Crohn’s was 86% and in UC was 88%.

The majority of IBD patients studies had failed multiple lines of standard treatment prior to initiating HBOT.   

Our Naturopaths have seen impressive results in many of our Edmonton Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis patients with the use of customized Nutritional IV Therapy and food allergy or food sensitivity testing in our Edmonton IBD patients which is further enhanced by Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment.

MS probably has the largest data set in relation to Hyperbaric Medicine Therapy with regards to impacting not only the disease course (relapses) but also functionality and repair.

In one study, the relapse frequency decreased dramatically in the long term treatment Hyperbaric Therapy group. 

A large collection of Hyperbaric treatment data from the United Kingdom, looking at over 700 patients found over 70% of patients obtained relief of two or more symptoms and frequent treatment was able to retard the progression.

One of our Naturopaths, Dr. Eric Muradov, is intimately versed in Naturopathic MS care - we've helped many Edmonton MS patients live better lives since 2010.

Our experience: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has been a powerful adjunct for our Edmonton autoimmune patients if combined with strong Naturopathic foundational treatments like dietary augmentation. 

For more information on Hyperbaric Treatment of autoimmunity visit our Autoimmune Section.

For more information on Hyperbaric Treatment of MS visit our Multiple Sclerosis Section.

Cardiovascular Disease

Hyperbaric Oxygen has numerous mechanisms that have theoretical beneficial effect in cardiovascular disease: improve red blood cell elasticity, reduced platelet aggregation and increased nitric oxide synthesis.

HBOT can improve cardiac energy metabolism (which depends on the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood) and reduce myocardial ischemia. 

Arterial and venous ulcers have been studied with Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment. 

Patients with arterial ulcers exposed to Hyperbaric pressures can relieve pain and heal treatment resistant ulcers and reduce amputation rates.

Venous ulcers can also show marked improvement under Hyperbaric conditions.  

Our Naturopaths have found improving general nutritional sufficiency using IV Therapy is key for healing of ulcers - additional Vitamin C, Zinc and Selenium are top ingredients.

Angina severity can be reduced after Hyperbaric Oxygen not only by improving myocardial oxygenation but through reduced platelet aggregation and serum fibrinogen.

Our Naturopaths have seen impressive and rapid results treating angina with IV Magnesium in intravenous "push" format based on the notion that administration of a series of magnesium can improve myocardial magnesium uptake dramatically more than what's possible with oral administration.

Peripheral vascular disease and its sequelae can be improved with Hyperbaric oxygenation and long term benefits can be seen in a large majority of cases as per the published data. 

Our experience: Most commonly we use Hyperbaric Oxygen at our office for healing of various ulcers (arterial, diabetic, venous) in our Edmonton patients and best results are seen when high pressure treatments are combined with medical wound care.

For more information on Hyperbaric Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease click here.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Research

Neurological Disease

The most important metabolic effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy are on the Central Nervous System as the brain has unusually high resting energy requirements and cannot store oxygen.

HBOT can improve microcirculation, reduce edema, preserve damaged tissue, improve cerebral metabolism, drop inflammation (Sirt1, Nrf2, SOD, IL-10 etc) and cause stem cell mobilization.

Vascular Dementia has positive data despite the recommendations of a Cochrane review, a large meta-analysis from 2019 looked at 1,954 patients concluded "the present meta-analysis suggested that HBOT can be recommended as an effective and safe complementary therapy for the treatment of Vascular Dementia."

This was corroborated by a trial by Xu 2019  which concluded "HBO therapy can improve cognitive function in patients with Vascular Dementia."  

Vinpocetine is a clinic Naturopathic favorite for vascular dementia a derivative of periwinkle (Vinca minor). In clinical trials, taking Vinpocetine has a modest effect on cognitive impairment from various causes. 

Parkinson's & Alzheimer's: two case reports demonstrate benefit of Hyperbaric Oxygen in these conditions. Broad spectrum improvements were seen in an Alzheimer's case and improved resting tremor and bradykinesia improved in the Parkinson's case with Hyperbaric Therapy.  

Stroke has a large data set on potential positive effects of Hyperbaric Therapy.

For instance, Efrati et al.(2013) looked at 74 chronic Stroke patients undergoing 40 Hyperbaric treatments up to 3 years after the initial insult which led to significant neurological improvements.

This study, and others, suggests that neuroplasticity and partial restoration of brain function can still be activated long after the initial insult.

Chronic TBI was looked at by Harch et al. 2012, in 16 war veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury with 40, 60 minute Hyperbaric sessions at 1.5 ATA with 80% of the subjects reporting an improvement in the majority of their symptoms. 

IV Glutathione is one of our Naturopaths' favorite IV Therapies for augmenting TBI symptoms in our Edmonton TBI patients.

Our experience: Chronic TBI is by far the most commonly treated and best responding neurological concern we treat at our Edmonton office with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

For our entire discussion on Hyperbaric Oxygen and Stroke visit our Stroke section. 

For our entire discussion on Hyperbaric Oxygen and TBI visit our TBI section.

For our entire discussion on Hyperbaric Oxygen and Neurology visit our Neurology section.

Longevity 

Two studies in particular from 2020 demonstrate the powerful effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen with regards to longevity, both involving Shai Efrati, a prominent researcher from Israel.

Relevant mechanisms of HBOT with regards to longevity include induction of HIF1, VEGF and SIRT1, stem cell proliferation, mitochondrial biogenesis, angiogenesis and neurogenesis. 

A study by Hachmo 2020 looked at telomere length and senescence in immune cells.

60, 90 minute sessions of 100% oxygen at 2 ATA enhanced Telomere length of T helper, T cytotoxic, natural killer and B cells by over 20% following Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

Senescent T helper cells decreased by up to 37% and T-cytotoxic senescent cell percentages decreased significantly by about 11% post Hyperbaric Oxygen.

Hadanny 2020 looked at 63 healthy adults receiving either Hyperbaric Oxygen or control for three months.

A significant improvement in global cognitive function post-Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy was seen compared to control with striking improvements in attention and information processing speed.

Significant cerebral blood flow increases in the HBOT group were also seen in numerous brain areas with an increase in global blood flow as well, albeit non-significantly. 

Our experience: Although the data on Hyperbaric Oxygen and longevity is compelling our Naturopathic Doctors most commonly use IV NAD+ for enhancing energy, cognition and longevity in our Edmonton patients. 

For more information on Hyperbaric Oxygen and Longevity click here.

Athletics

With regards to sports injury, with Hyperbaric Therapy Oxygen tension in muscle tissue remains elevated up to 2 hours post Hyperbaric exposure and up to 4 hours in subcutaneous tissues.

Hyperbaric treatment can reduce edema, reduce inflammation, stimulate new blood vessel formation, bone formation, new collagen production and stem cell release.

Fatigue: Olympic athletes in Nagano benefited from Hyperbaric Oxygen with faster recovery rates and less muscular fatigue as did tennis players. 

Sports Injury: Soccer players with injury treated with 2.0 ATA Hyperbaric Oxygen had an average "saving in injury time" of 70%.

Joint injury: Medial collateral ligament injury was treated with Hyperbaric Therapy and showed improved pain and functional outcomes, such as decreased edema, better range of motion and flexion and improvements in one study approximately 30% faster than a control group. 

IV Therapy can be used to enhance levels of key nutrients needed for healing such as Vitamin C, Zinc, Copper, all the B Vitamins as well as amino acids such as Proline and Lysine for tissue repair. Our Naturopathic doctors are experienced with IV nutrient infusions. 

Our experience: Our Naturopathic Doctors have observed on average 30-50% faster healing rates in our Edmonton athletes using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for injury. 

For our entire discussion on Hyperbaric Oxygen and Sports visit our Athletics section. 

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