New England Journal of Medicine
Hyperoxygenation Effect on Cognitive Functioning in the Aged
Thirteen elderly male patients with measured cognitive deficits were treated with 30 intermittent exposures to 100 per cent oxygen at 2.5 atmospheres absolute. Five controls, each exposed at the same time and manner as a paired experimental patient, breathed a low oxygen mixture that maintained essentially normal alveolar oxygen tension despite increased ambient pressure.
Arterial samples for blood gas determinations were obtained from each patient during one of the early hyperbaric exposures. Analysis showed the expected large intra-exposure increase in arterial oxygen tension among the experimental subjects. Negligible changes in arterial oxygen tension were found among control patients.
Post-treatment performance on psychological tests of cognitive functioning showed highly significant gains over pretreatment levels in experimental subjects, suggesting an improved performance that persisted beyond the temporary increase in arterial oxygen tension levels. Control patients showed no improvement in post-treatment cognitive functioning. Click here for full Article
Arterial samples for blood gas determinations were obtained from each patient during one of the early hyperbaric exposures. Analysis showed the expected large intra-exposure increase in arterial oxygen tension among the experimental subjects. Negligible changes in arterial oxygen tension were found among control patients.
Post-treatment performance on psychological tests of cognitive functioning showed highly significant gains over pretreatment levels in experimental subjects, suggesting an improved performance that persisted beyond the temporary increase in arterial oxygen tension levels. Control patients showed no improvement in post-treatment cognitive functioning. Click here for full Article
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment induces antioxidant gene expression
Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2010 Jun;1197:178-83. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.05393.x.
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment induces antioxidant gene expression.Godman CA, Joshi R, Giardina C, Perdrizet G, Hightower LE.
SourceDepartment of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA.
Abstract: Although the underlying molecular causes of aging are not entirely clear, hormetic agents like exercise, heat, and calorie restriction may generate a mild pro-oxidant stress that induces cell protective responses to promote healthy aging. As an individual ages, many cellular and physiological processes decline, including wound healing and reparative angiogenesis. This is particularly critical in patients with chronic non-healing wounds who tend to be older. We are interested in the potential beneficial effects of hyperbaric oxygen as a mild hormetic stress on human microvascular endothelial cells. We analyzed global gene expression changes in human endothelial cells following a hyperbaric exposure comparable to a clinical treatment. Our analysis revealed an upregulation of antioxidant, cytoprotective, and immediate early genes. This increase coincided with an increased resistance to a lethal oxidative stress. Our data indicate that hyperbaric oxygen can induce protection against oxidative insults in endothelial cells and may provide an easily administered hormetic treatment to help promote healthy aging.
PMID: 20536847 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment induces antioxidant gene expression.Godman CA, Joshi R, Giardina C, Perdrizet G, Hightower LE.
SourceDepartment of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA.
Abstract: Although the underlying molecular causes of aging are not entirely clear, hormetic agents like exercise, heat, and calorie restriction may generate a mild pro-oxidant stress that induces cell protective responses to promote healthy aging. As an individual ages, many cellular and physiological processes decline, including wound healing and reparative angiogenesis. This is particularly critical in patients with chronic non-healing wounds who tend to be older. We are interested in the potential beneficial effects of hyperbaric oxygen as a mild hormetic stress on human microvascular endothelial cells. We analyzed global gene expression changes in human endothelial cells following a hyperbaric exposure comparable to a clinical treatment. Our analysis revealed an upregulation of antioxidant, cytoprotective, and immediate early genes. This increase coincided with an increased resistance to a lethal oxidative stress. Our data indicate that hyperbaric oxygen can induce protection against oxidative insults in endothelial cells and may provide an easily administered hormetic treatment to help promote healthy aging.
PMID: 20536847 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Title: New Frontiers: Anti-Aging Properties of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.
Source: Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, Jul99 Issue 192, p68, 2p
Author(s): Neubauer, Richard A.; Yutsis, Pavel I.
AN: 6187986
ISSN: 1525-4283
New Frontiers: Anti-Aging Properties of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
As the world is becoming more industrialized it is also "going gray." Globally, the life span has reached a
level of 63 years. Obviously, the geriatric population is growing; so are many detrimental effects of aging:
strokes, heart attacks, dementia, arthritis, etc. Therefore improvement of quality of life becomes a real
issue among millions of aging folks. The medical and scientific world has started taking a deep look into
different therapeutic modalities to extend one's life and improve its quality: diets, nutritional
supplementations, growth hormone therapy, cellular therapy, and chelation therapy among many others.
Restoring brain functioning is one of many important goals of anti-aging therapies. Richard A. Neubauer,
MD, one of the authors of this article suggested in the late 70s' that Hyperbaric Oxygen can stimulate a
reactivation of the zone around a special region surrounding the central area of a stroke or brain injury
site, known as "ischemic penumbra." The diminished oxygen supply to the "penumbra" is one of a few
causes for the loss and inadequacy of bodily functions. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy may restore function
in areas of the brain that are hypoxic (low in oxygen pressure) and are primarily vascular in origin. The
ischemic penumbra of the surrounding zone may well be responsible for many of the symptoms, which
are reversible with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), even in cases with onset 12-13 years prior to the
treatment.
Dr. Neubauer also pioneered the use of SPECT scans (Single Photon Emission Computerized
Tomography) as an objective monitoring tool to determine success or failure of Hyperbaric Oxygen
Therapy (HBOT) by determining the rate of blood perfusion and metabolic changes in suspected regions
before, during and after HBOT.
Here are the cases that support our hypothesis: Case #1 -- D.L. -- a 70 year-old female who about one
year prior to HBOT began to notice periods of confusion, forgetfulness, agitation and reached the point
where she was unable to drive her car or live alone. Under most circumstances, a patient like this would
be institutionalized in a care facility. The daughter, however, took mother to live with her. Both of these
women were ministers in the Unity Church. DL, however, had lost her ability to work with parishioners.
The SPECT scan showed that the patient very definitely did not have Alzheimer's disease, but had
hypoperfusion in the frontal and temporal lobes. She was given a challenge with Hyperbaric Oxygen (3
treatments) and the scan was repeated. The changes in perfusion were striking. These paralleled her
clinical progress. She then received a total of 33 treatments. After 20 treatments, the patient returned to a
perfectly normal lifestyle, able not only to drive her car, ten d her affairs, but also return to the pulpit.
ASPECT scan conducted upon completion of 13 treatments showed that the improvements remained
intact. Two and a half years later the patient is doing extremely well and she has had three maintenance
Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments.
Case #2 -- J.D. -- a 79 year-old male complained of dizziness all day for the past 2-1/2 months. He had
suffered a stroke a month previously and was hospitalized 3-4 days, but no therapy was given. He also
reported problems with memory and pain and stiffness in the neck. A baseline SPECT scan showed
multiple areas of hypometabolism with the main deficit seen in the left temporal, occipital zone. After 10
Hyperbaric treatments (1.5 ATA, one hour), the patient reported that his memory was much improved,
pain was relieved and he felt much stronger with increased energy. SPECT scan after 10 treatments
showed significant improvement in the localization in the left frontal and both parietal regions. The uptake
pattern was also less patchy in other areas.
Case #3 -- D.F. -- a 72 year-old female who had worked as a secretary for Dr. Neubauer. She was bright
and alert. At one point in time she became slightly dizzy, slightly confused and had a left carotid
endarterectomy. She appeared to be fine post-operatively and she continued working. However, shortly
thereafter she retired. We did not see her for a number of months until we received a phone call from her
daughter stating that D.F. was so confused, disoriented, dizzy and weak that she was selling her
apartment and moving in with her. Because of this change, we had D.F. come in for SPECT scanning.
Subsequently she had four Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments. (1 hr., 1.5 ATA) followed by a repeat SPECT
scan. The results were dramatic. All the symptoms including confusion and dizziness were gone and D.F.
was able to live on her own. She continued to drive her car and take care of all personal affairs. Eighteen
months later, the initial areas of re-perfusion had persisted and she remai ns clinically stable.
Many such patients are inadvertently classified as having Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is
primarily a problem of the young, between the ages of 50 and 60, associated with neurofibrilary-tangles.
They present a specific pattern on the SPECT scan and they are not responsive to hyperbaric
oxygenation. It is felt that there are thousands of mis-diagnosed Alzheimer's patients in the United States.
The diagnosis is made either with SPECT scan, PET scan, brain biopsy, or autopsy. The terminology of
such patients should be "Alzheimer's-like." Such patients are vasculary in origin with many small strokes,
hardening of the arteries, and are responsive to hyperbaric oxygen therapy rather dramatically.
These cases have clearly shown that with the use of Hyperbaric Therapy the lifestyle of these people has
been improved and they have obtained a much better quality of life. Moreover their SPECT scans before
and after HBOT showed the correction of the basic pathology. Additionally, in many other patients that we
have treated for other than anti-aging purposes, the symptoms of aging were evident and subsequently
cleared by HBOT. At this point it is our opinion that in order to really scientifically ascertain the efficacy of
HBOT, the series of SPECT scans should be done before, during and after therapy with subsequent
clinical correlations. The purpose of this report is to present the idea of using HBOT for anti-aging
purposes and to stimulate a new study and accumulation of scientific documentation. We feel that the
future of Hyperbaric Medicine must be appropriately explored both in the laboratory and in a clinical
setting.
Article copyright Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients.
~~~~~~~~
By Richard A. Neubauer and Pavel I. Yutsis
Copyright of Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients is the property of Townsend Letter Group and its
content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright
holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual
use.
Source: Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, Jul99 Issue 192, p68, 2p
Item: 6187986
Source: Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, Jul99 Issue 192, p68, 2p
Author(s): Neubauer, Richard A.; Yutsis, Pavel I.
AN: 6187986
ISSN: 1525-4283
New Frontiers: Anti-Aging Properties of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
As the world is becoming more industrialized it is also "going gray." Globally, the life span has reached a
level of 63 years. Obviously, the geriatric population is growing; so are many detrimental effects of aging:
strokes, heart attacks, dementia, arthritis, etc. Therefore improvement of quality of life becomes a real
issue among millions of aging folks. The medical and scientific world has started taking a deep look into
different therapeutic modalities to extend one's life and improve its quality: diets, nutritional
supplementations, growth hormone therapy, cellular therapy, and chelation therapy among many others.
Restoring brain functioning is one of many important goals of anti-aging therapies. Richard A. Neubauer,
MD, one of the authors of this article suggested in the late 70s' that Hyperbaric Oxygen can stimulate a
reactivation of the zone around a special region surrounding the central area of a stroke or brain injury
site, known as "ischemic penumbra." The diminished oxygen supply to the "penumbra" is one of a few
causes for the loss and inadequacy of bodily functions. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy may restore function
in areas of the brain that are hypoxic (low in oxygen pressure) and are primarily vascular in origin. The
ischemic penumbra of the surrounding zone may well be responsible for many of the symptoms, which
are reversible with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), even in cases with onset 12-13 years prior to the
treatment.
Dr. Neubauer also pioneered the use of SPECT scans (Single Photon Emission Computerized
Tomography) as an objective monitoring tool to determine success or failure of Hyperbaric Oxygen
Therapy (HBOT) by determining the rate of blood perfusion and metabolic changes in suspected regions
before, during and after HBOT.
Here are the cases that support our hypothesis: Case #1 -- D.L. -- a 70 year-old female who about one
year prior to HBOT began to notice periods of confusion, forgetfulness, agitation and reached the point
where she was unable to drive her car or live alone. Under most circumstances, a patient like this would
be institutionalized in a care facility. The daughter, however, took mother to live with her. Both of these
women were ministers in the Unity Church. DL, however, had lost her ability to work with parishioners.
The SPECT scan showed that the patient very definitely did not have Alzheimer's disease, but had
hypoperfusion in the frontal and temporal lobes. She was given a challenge with Hyperbaric Oxygen (3
treatments) and the scan was repeated. The changes in perfusion were striking. These paralleled her
clinical progress. She then received a total of 33 treatments. After 20 treatments, the patient returned to a
perfectly normal lifestyle, able not only to drive her car, ten d her affairs, but also return to the pulpit.
ASPECT scan conducted upon completion of 13 treatments showed that the improvements remained
intact. Two and a half years later the patient is doing extremely well and she has had three maintenance
Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments.
Case #2 -- J.D. -- a 79 year-old male complained of dizziness all day for the past 2-1/2 months. He had
suffered a stroke a month previously and was hospitalized 3-4 days, but no therapy was given. He also
reported problems with memory and pain and stiffness in the neck. A baseline SPECT scan showed
multiple areas of hypometabolism with the main deficit seen in the left temporal, occipital zone. After 10
Hyperbaric treatments (1.5 ATA, one hour), the patient reported that his memory was much improved,
pain was relieved and he felt much stronger with increased energy. SPECT scan after 10 treatments
showed significant improvement in the localization in the left frontal and both parietal regions. The uptake
pattern was also less patchy in other areas.
Case #3 -- D.F. -- a 72 year-old female who had worked as a secretary for Dr. Neubauer. She was bright
and alert. At one point in time she became slightly dizzy, slightly confused and had a left carotid
endarterectomy. She appeared to be fine post-operatively and she continued working. However, shortly
thereafter she retired. We did not see her for a number of months until we received a phone call from her
daughter stating that D.F. was so confused, disoriented, dizzy and weak that she was selling her
apartment and moving in with her. Because of this change, we had D.F. come in for SPECT scanning.
Subsequently she had four Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments. (1 hr., 1.5 ATA) followed by a repeat SPECT
scan. The results were dramatic. All the symptoms including confusion and dizziness were gone and D.F.
was able to live on her own. She continued to drive her car and take care of all personal affairs. Eighteen
months later, the initial areas of re-perfusion had persisted and she remai ns clinically stable.
Many such patients are inadvertently classified as having Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is
primarily a problem of the young, between the ages of 50 and 60, associated with neurofibrilary-tangles.
They present a specific pattern on the SPECT scan and they are not responsive to hyperbaric
oxygenation. It is felt that there are thousands of mis-diagnosed Alzheimer's patients in the United States.
The diagnosis is made either with SPECT scan, PET scan, brain biopsy, or autopsy. The terminology of
such patients should be "Alzheimer's-like." Such patients are vasculary in origin with many small strokes,
hardening of the arteries, and are responsive to hyperbaric oxygen therapy rather dramatically.
These cases have clearly shown that with the use of Hyperbaric Therapy the lifestyle of these people has
been improved and they have obtained a much better quality of life. Moreover their SPECT scans before
and after HBOT showed the correction of the basic pathology. Additionally, in many other patients that we
have treated for other than anti-aging purposes, the symptoms of aging were evident and subsequently
cleared by HBOT. At this point it is our opinion that in order to really scientifically ascertain the efficacy of
HBOT, the series of SPECT scans should be done before, during and after therapy with subsequent
clinical correlations. The purpose of this report is to present the idea of using HBOT for anti-aging
purposes and to stimulate a new study and accumulation of scientific documentation. We feel that the
future of Hyperbaric Medicine must be appropriately explored both in the laboratory and in a clinical
setting.
Article copyright Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients.
~~~~~~~~
By Richard A. Neubauer and Pavel I. Yutsis
Copyright of Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients is the property of Townsend Letter Group and its
content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright
holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual
use.
Source: Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, Jul99 Issue 192, p68, 2p
Item: 6187986
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) for Anti-Aging
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) for Anti-Aging
According to the tabloids, the application of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) will repair the aged body and reverse, arrest or slow the aging process. Michael Jackson made this famous. But is there science and clinical research behind this? The answer is "yes" and according to many doctors and clinical research articles, hyperbaric oxygen therapy maybe the proverbial “fountain of youth.” Please read on.
What is Aging? So, what is aging and how do you define it? Aging appears to be a genetically programmed event. Biologically, scientists have found that the chromosomes in our cells progressively shorten each time the cell divides. Eventually, the chromosomes can shorten no further and stop dividing. When this happens, the cells become senescent (sleepy) and die. If this were the sole determinant of the length of a human life, then we would all live about the same length of time, plus/minus some genetic variation. In fact, as we all know, people’s life spans can vary widely, and this wide variation is largely due to the cumulative insults that a person’s body experiences over the course of a lifetime. In this respect, it is more appropriate to talk about premature aging.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) for Premature Aging Premature aging is a shortened lifespan due to the effects of various stressors/insults to the human body. The most common and obvious ones are alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. This category of substances exerts a tremendous aging effect on the human body. Tobacco alone causes a 15% average reduction in lifespan. Using the figure of 80 years for an average U.S. adult’s lifespan, the smoker usually lives to 68 years of age. And, the last decade of their lives are miserable with emphysema, heart attacks, surgeries, cancer, hospitalizations, infections, etc. When alcohol, drugs, chemicals from food or environmental pollution, trauma, systemic infections, and myriad other insults are added, the reserve capacity of the human body is progressively lost. The net result is a shortened life.
As you may have read from the previous hyperbaric oxygen discussions on altMD, insults to the human body cause progressive wounding of the body. This is easiest to see on brain blood flow scans such as SPECT (Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography) and PET (Positron Emission Tomography). Wounds in the brain on these scans are registered as areas of low blood flow/low oxygenation, which cause decreased neurological function. Most commonly, this decreased neurological function leads to the premature aging diagnosis called dementia. As discussed in the Oxygen Revolution by Dr. Harch and Virginia McCullough, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a generic drug for repair of these brain wounds. Regardless of the causes of the brain insults or injuries, the end product is a stereotypic chronic wound that responds to low pressures of hyperbaric oxygen treatments. What Drs. Neubauer, Harch, and others have shown in the past 30 years is that these “premature aging wounds” can be repaired and the patient improved neurologically, cognitively, behaviorally, and emotionally.
Repair of these chronic wounds is a reversal of premature aging by use of HBOT as an anti-aging treatment. This is best illustrated with the brain scans of Dr. Harch’s dementia patients as presented to the House of Representatives in 2002 and 2004. See the Alzheimer’s and general dementia patient at International Hyperbaric Medical Association. The general dementia patient required 24h/day supervision and was facing institutionalization. After a two-month course of HBOT treatments, he returned to independent living that was unchanged four years later. With hyperbaric oxygen, the Alzheimer’s patient experienced the first improvement in cognitive function in the three years since his diagnosis. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy slowed the progression of his disease until he succumbed to a heart attack 4 years later. In both cases, HBOT helped prolong their lives and gave them quality of life, thus functioning as an anti-aging tool.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments for “Normal” Aging The question in this modern day is whether or not there is such a thing as “normal” aging. Given the pollution of our air, food, environment, ubiquitous exposure to automobile exhaust, second-hand smoke and carbon monoxide, heavy metals, dental amalgams, vaccines, anesthesia, chemicals, food additives, etc., one could make a case that we all age prematurely. If this is true, everyone could benefit from the restorative effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT).
There is evidence from the Russians that continued intermittent hyperbaric oxygen treatments in stroke patients resulted in a decreased incidence of recurrent strokes. This is purportedly due to healthy effects of hyperbaric oxygen on blood vessels. In animal experiments, it has been shown that HBOT helps stabilize the inside lining of injured blood vessels. Hyperbaric oxygen treatments stimulates angiogenesis, growing new blood vessels into tissue and in 2007 has been demonstrated to cause stem cell release from our bone marrow into our circulation. HBOT has been shown to have detoxification effects and suppresses inflammation. Most of our chronic diseases are now recognized to result from chronic inflammation. When you begin to add up all of these beneficial effects of hyperbaric oxygen and combine them with the many other documented effects of HBOT on disease processes that are catalogued in The Oxygen Revolution, it is apparent that hyperbaric oxygen may in fact have anti-aging effects.
HBOT on Genetic Disorders But, suppose you live in the ultra-pure environment of some Shangri-La in this world. (I don’t know if any such place is left on the planet, but let’s assume there is one). The final question is whether or not hyperbaric oxygen can benefit the “normal” aging process in Shangri-La. The answer is not known for sure, yet, but there is a suggestion that hyperbaric oxygen maybe beneficial in this type of “normal” aging. In 2004 at the 12th Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine, Dr. Harch addressed this question by pointing out that in the last 10 years the primary site of action of HBOT is on the DNA of cells. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in many instances acts like a stimulant or promoter that activates gene sequences that code for growth and repair hormones. In other instances, HBOT has positively impacted patients with a variety of genetic diseases. Dr. Harch treated one of the first of these cases in 1995. She was a patient with ceroid lipofuscinosis, which is an enzyme deficiency affecting fatty acids. Her condition is uniformly fatal. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy reversed the course of her disease and prolonged her life. Since that time, Dr. Harch and others have successfully treated a variety of patients with chromosomal abnormalities, including patients with Down syndrome. (Dr Pierre Marois in Montreal continues his work and research with the Downs Syndrome population.) This underscores the effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on DNA. It is not much of a stretch of the imagination to believe that HBOT may affect the “defect” in our DNA that causes us to age. Literally, time will tell.
The Fountain of Youth? In the meantime, for all of us who have some degree of accelerated or premature aging, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy may in fact be an anti-aging tool. As Dr. Harch argues in The Oxygen Revolution, HBOT will likely become appreciated as the Fountain of Youth by the Baby Boomer Generation whose life spans have been compromised by years of drug experimentation in the 1960s and 1970s. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy will be able to restore waning brain function and prevent premature dementia.
According to the tabloids, the application of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) will repair the aged body and reverse, arrest or slow the aging process. Michael Jackson made this famous. But is there science and clinical research behind this? The answer is "yes" and according to many doctors and clinical research articles, hyperbaric oxygen therapy maybe the proverbial “fountain of youth.” Please read on.
What is Aging? So, what is aging and how do you define it? Aging appears to be a genetically programmed event. Biologically, scientists have found that the chromosomes in our cells progressively shorten each time the cell divides. Eventually, the chromosomes can shorten no further and stop dividing. When this happens, the cells become senescent (sleepy) and die. If this were the sole determinant of the length of a human life, then we would all live about the same length of time, plus/minus some genetic variation. In fact, as we all know, people’s life spans can vary widely, and this wide variation is largely due to the cumulative insults that a person’s body experiences over the course of a lifetime. In this respect, it is more appropriate to talk about premature aging.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) for Premature Aging Premature aging is a shortened lifespan due to the effects of various stressors/insults to the human body. The most common and obvious ones are alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. This category of substances exerts a tremendous aging effect on the human body. Tobacco alone causes a 15% average reduction in lifespan. Using the figure of 80 years for an average U.S. adult’s lifespan, the smoker usually lives to 68 years of age. And, the last decade of their lives are miserable with emphysema, heart attacks, surgeries, cancer, hospitalizations, infections, etc. When alcohol, drugs, chemicals from food or environmental pollution, trauma, systemic infections, and myriad other insults are added, the reserve capacity of the human body is progressively lost. The net result is a shortened life.
As you may have read from the previous hyperbaric oxygen discussions on altMD, insults to the human body cause progressive wounding of the body. This is easiest to see on brain blood flow scans such as SPECT (Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography) and PET (Positron Emission Tomography). Wounds in the brain on these scans are registered as areas of low blood flow/low oxygenation, which cause decreased neurological function. Most commonly, this decreased neurological function leads to the premature aging diagnosis called dementia. As discussed in the Oxygen Revolution by Dr. Harch and Virginia McCullough, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a generic drug for repair of these brain wounds. Regardless of the causes of the brain insults or injuries, the end product is a stereotypic chronic wound that responds to low pressures of hyperbaric oxygen treatments. What Drs. Neubauer, Harch, and others have shown in the past 30 years is that these “premature aging wounds” can be repaired and the patient improved neurologically, cognitively, behaviorally, and emotionally.
Repair of these chronic wounds is a reversal of premature aging by use of HBOT as an anti-aging treatment. This is best illustrated with the brain scans of Dr. Harch’s dementia patients as presented to the House of Representatives in 2002 and 2004. See the Alzheimer’s and general dementia patient at International Hyperbaric Medical Association. The general dementia patient required 24h/day supervision and was facing institutionalization. After a two-month course of HBOT treatments, he returned to independent living that was unchanged four years later. With hyperbaric oxygen, the Alzheimer’s patient experienced the first improvement in cognitive function in the three years since his diagnosis. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy slowed the progression of his disease until he succumbed to a heart attack 4 years later. In both cases, HBOT helped prolong their lives and gave them quality of life, thus functioning as an anti-aging tool.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments for “Normal” Aging The question in this modern day is whether or not there is such a thing as “normal” aging. Given the pollution of our air, food, environment, ubiquitous exposure to automobile exhaust, second-hand smoke and carbon monoxide, heavy metals, dental amalgams, vaccines, anesthesia, chemicals, food additives, etc., one could make a case that we all age prematurely. If this is true, everyone could benefit from the restorative effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT).
There is evidence from the Russians that continued intermittent hyperbaric oxygen treatments in stroke patients resulted in a decreased incidence of recurrent strokes. This is purportedly due to healthy effects of hyperbaric oxygen on blood vessels. In animal experiments, it has been shown that HBOT helps stabilize the inside lining of injured blood vessels. Hyperbaric oxygen treatments stimulates angiogenesis, growing new blood vessels into tissue and in 2007 has been demonstrated to cause stem cell release from our bone marrow into our circulation. HBOT has been shown to have detoxification effects and suppresses inflammation. Most of our chronic diseases are now recognized to result from chronic inflammation. When you begin to add up all of these beneficial effects of hyperbaric oxygen and combine them with the many other documented effects of HBOT on disease processes that are catalogued in The Oxygen Revolution, it is apparent that hyperbaric oxygen may in fact have anti-aging effects.
HBOT on Genetic Disorders But, suppose you live in the ultra-pure environment of some Shangri-La in this world. (I don’t know if any such place is left on the planet, but let’s assume there is one). The final question is whether or not hyperbaric oxygen can benefit the “normal” aging process in Shangri-La. The answer is not known for sure, yet, but there is a suggestion that hyperbaric oxygen maybe beneficial in this type of “normal” aging. In 2004 at the 12th Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine, Dr. Harch addressed this question by pointing out that in the last 10 years the primary site of action of HBOT is on the DNA of cells. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in many instances acts like a stimulant or promoter that activates gene sequences that code for growth and repair hormones. In other instances, HBOT has positively impacted patients with a variety of genetic diseases. Dr. Harch treated one of the first of these cases in 1995. She was a patient with ceroid lipofuscinosis, which is an enzyme deficiency affecting fatty acids. Her condition is uniformly fatal. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy reversed the course of her disease and prolonged her life. Since that time, Dr. Harch and others have successfully treated a variety of patients with chromosomal abnormalities, including patients with Down syndrome. (Dr Pierre Marois in Montreal continues his work and research with the Downs Syndrome population.) This underscores the effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on DNA. It is not much of a stretch of the imagination to believe that HBOT may affect the “defect” in our DNA that causes us to age. Literally, time will tell.
The Fountain of Youth? In the meantime, for all of us who have some degree of accelerated or premature aging, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy may in fact be an anti-aging tool. As Dr. Harch argues in The Oxygen Revolution, HBOT will likely become appreciated as the Fountain of Youth by the Baby Boomer Generation whose life spans have been compromised by years of drug experimentation in the 1960s and 1970s. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy will be able to restore waning brain function and prevent premature dementia.
Reduce aging effects with oxygen
Anti- aging medical experts know that many illnesses connected with aging could be avoided or slowed down through optimal cell health. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy helps to create the optimal environment for cell essential processes.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy known as HBO therapy or HBOT, has been used since 17th century for treating various medical conditions but is still not accepted by mainstream medicine, some doctors are dismissive some are even hostile, nevertheless many doctors do use HBOT along the side of their official medical treatment. Side effects of oxygen use are broadly studied but practically they have been ignored. Due to such therapeutic characteristics, J. H. Jacobson opened his lecture at The First International Congress for the Use of Hyperbaric Oxygen (Amsterdam, 1963.), by words: "The use of oxygen under pressure higher than atmospheric, represents a progress which, by importance, may be measured by introduction of blood transfusion and antibiotics in the treatment."
Hyperbaric Medicine, HBOT, is based on only one medicament: the pure oxygen, breathed under the pressure higher then atmospheric, in special equipment - hyperbaric chambers. The origin of the most deceases (or their consequence) is a lack of oxygen: hypoxia or anoxia. Hyperbaric oxygenation (HBOT), if it is used at the right moment, stops the suffering of cells, tissues and organism in hypoxia or anoxia, leading to the recovery, regeneration and complete restitution if destruction already took a place. The main functions of human system, is to deliver oxygen through blood to all parts of the body. The heart of healthy human pumps daily 8 000 lit. of blood, and the body consumes 368 lit. of oxygen. The highest consumers of oxygen in human body are digestive system, brain tissue, muscles, etc.
We live in a toxic world today - the air we breathe, the food we eat, environmental contamination, stress, depression, alcohol, cigarettes. The latest scientific research suggests that even degenerative diseases do not occur because we get older but because the lifestyle we follow does not provide optimal conditions for us to blossom. Most of what is called aging - from sagging skin and falling hormone levels to raised cholesterol and blood pressure - is premature and preventable. Many of today’s illnesses as well as premature aging are caused by lack of oxygen. The body accumulates a certain amount of toxic waste from the food. When food is metabolized and broken down in the body, it leaves certain residues, which give way to either alkaline or acidic potentials of pH.
These residues appear to most strongly influence body pH levels and can lead to serious health problems, weight gain, poor athletic performance, low energy levels and premature aging if continuously too acidic or too alkaline. Without enough oxygen, human body does not function properly and it cannot get rid of free radicals, uric acid, fungal and bacterial infections. When the pH of the body becomes too acidic it results in tiredness, stress, fatigue, excess weight, poor digestion, aches and pains, and disorders that are even more serious. The body becomes imbalanced and overly acidic because of eating too many acidifying foods like processed sugar, meats, dairy, coffee, alcohol, etc... As the body becomes more and more acidic, bad bacteria, yeasts and other microforms proliferate in the body. The body uses many systems in order to buffer acids including breath, mineral reserves, and fat. HBOT helps reduce acidic build-up and rebalance pH by buffering these residues and removing them from the body, helps the cleansing and repair of tissues, helps maintain proper insulin production and use. Hyperbaric chambers assist the body help itself and getting rid of all harmful toxins within.
HBOT is very successful in the cosmetic and spa treatments such as rejuvenation, anti-aging, weight loss, skin toning, banishing cellulite, wrinkles reduction, detox, and stimulation of the immune system as well as in longevity. Skin disorders such as eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, or proper vascularization of tissue flaps, fat grafts, tissue grafts, heightened healing after any surgery, increased collagenation, increased chances of hair follicle growth after re-implantation, help with the digestive tract and increased nutrient absorption, allergy and IBS as well as numerous other conditions.
Oxygen deficiency creates dirty and toxic blood and other fluids that run all through the body. Cancer is a build up of toxins within the body not to mention cellulite, skin disorders, food intolerance, etc... No healing can begin until these toxins are removed from the body. The central therapeutic problem in the origin of many diseases, injuries, and intoxications is hypoxia (reduced partial pressure of oxygen in tissues) or anoxia (complete lack of oxygen in tissues).
The struggle against hypoxia is the struggle for life of the cell, tissue or organism in whole. HBOT effectively increases level of antioxydative protection of the body, increasing production of superoxyde dismutase, catalase and peroxidase. On that way, HBO decreases mutation of chromosomes, slows the process of growing old and has anti carcinogenic and anti stress effects. If toxins are present within your body, oxygen and the body's "food supply" cannot get inside your cells to supply needed nutrients, nor can the cells function properly. So far, the only medically documented method for increasing oxygen in the skin, and thus nourishing it and protecting it from premature aging, is by enclosing patients in hyperbaric oxygen chambers. Today's lifestyle requires more than just the essentials. With today's hectic pace of life, you will probably be glad to have all the help you can get.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy known as HBO therapy or HBOT, has been used since 17th century for treating various medical conditions but is still not accepted by mainstream medicine, some doctors are dismissive some are even hostile, nevertheless many doctors do use HBOT along the side of their official medical treatment. Side effects of oxygen use are broadly studied but practically they have been ignored. Due to such therapeutic characteristics, J. H. Jacobson opened his lecture at The First International Congress for the Use of Hyperbaric Oxygen (Amsterdam, 1963.), by words: "The use of oxygen under pressure higher than atmospheric, represents a progress which, by importance, may be measured by introduction of blood transfusion and antibiotics in the treatment."
Hyperbaric Medicine, HBOT, is based on only one medicament: the pure oxygen, breathed under the pressure higher then atmospheric, in special equipment - hyperbaric chambers. The origin of the most deceases (or their consequence) is a lack of oxygen: hypoxia or anoxia. Hyperbaric oxygenation (HBOT), if it is used at the right moment, stops the suffering of cells, tissues and organism in hypoxia or anoxia, leading to the recovery, regeneration and complete restitution if destruction already took a place. The main functions of human system, is to deliver oxygen through blood to all parts of the body. The heart of healthy human pumps daily 8 000 lit. of blood, and the body consumes 368 lit. of oxygen. The highest consumers of oxygen in human body are digestive system, brain tissue, muscles, etc.
We live in a toxic world today - the air we breathe, the food we eat, environmental contamination, stress, depression, alcohol, cigarettes. The latest scientific research suggests that even degenerative diseases do not occur because we get older but because the lifestyle we follow does not provide optimal conditions for us to blossom. Most of what is called aging - from sagging skin and falling hormone levels to raised cholesterol and blood pressure - is premature and preventable. Many of today’s illnesses as well as premature aging are caused by lack of oxygen. The body accumulates a certain amount of toxic waste from the food. When food is metabolized and broken down in the body, it leaves certain residues, which give way to either alkaline or acidic potentials of pH.
These residues appear to most strongly influence body pH levels and can lead to serious health problems, weight gain, poor athletic performance, low energy levels and premature aging if continuously too acidic or too alkaline. Without enough oxygen, human body does not function properly and it cannot get rid of free radicals, uric acid, fungal and bacterial infections. When the pH of the body becomes too acidic it results in tiredness, stress, fatigue, excess weight, poor digestion, aches and pains, and disorders that are even more serious. The body becomes imbalanced and overly acidic because of eating too many acidifying foods like processed sugar, meats, dairy, coffee, alcohol, etc... As the body becomes more and more acidic, bad bacteria, yeasts and other microforms proliferate in the body. The body uses many systems in order to buffer acids including breath, mineral reserves, and fat. HBOT helps reduce acidic build-up and rebalance pH by buffering these residues and removing them from the body, helps the cleansing and repair of tissues, helps maintain proper insulin production and use. Hyperbaric chambers assist the body help itself and getting rid of all harmful toxins within.
HBOT is very successful in the cosmetic and spa treatments such as rejuvenation, anti-aging, weight loss, skin toning, banishing cellulite, wrinkles reduction, detox, and stimulation of the immune system as well as in longevity. Skin disorders such as eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, or proper vascularization of tissue flaps, fat grafts, tissue grafts, heightened healing after any surgery, increased collagenation, increased chances of hair follicle growth after re-implantation, help with the digestive tract and increased nutrient absorption, allergy and IBS as well as numerous other conditions.
Oxygen deficiency creates dirty and toxic blood and other fluids that run all through the body. Cancer is a build up of toxins within the body not to mention cellulite, skin disorders, food intolerance, etc... No healing can begin until these toxins are removed from the body. The central therapeutic problem in the origin of many diseases, injuries, and intoxications is hypoxia (reduced partial pressure of oxygen in tissues) or anoxia (complete lack of oxygen in tissues).
The struggle against hypoxia is the struggle for life of the cell, tissue or organism in whole. HBOT effectively increases level of antioxydative protection of the body, increasing production of superoxyde dismutase, catalase and peroxidase. On that way, HBO decreases mutation of chromosomes, slows the process of growing old and has anti carcinogenic and anti stress effects. If toxins are present within your body, oxygen and the body's "food supply" cannot get inside your cells to supply needed nutrients, nor can the cells function properly. So far, the only medically documented method for increasing oxygen in the skin, and thus nourishing it and protecting it from premature aging, is by enclosing patients in hyperbaric oxygen chambers. Today's lifestyle requires more than just the essentials. With today's hectic pace of life, you will probably be glad to have all the help you can get.