In last few years Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) has become popular for the benifits that they provide in treating medical conditions like decompression sickness, carbon monoxide poisoning, and chronic wounds. After a recent research it’s possibility in neurological department. As now the more focus in on non – invasive and innovative treatment, HBOT is known for that as it provide effective treatment for different number of disorders that affects the brain and nervous system.
During the HBOT process patients are kept in a pressurised chamber where they are provided 100% oxygen at a pressure which is usually upto 1.5 to 3 times higher than normal. Through increasing the blood oxygen level it is possible for oxygen to reach tissues especially those which have been damaged or injured by any illness or injury. When the supply of oxygen is increased it helps in healing of wounds and illness affecting the brain and nervous system as they allow the growth of new blood vessels and also promotes tissue repairment.
HBOT in neurology has ability to
Increase the flow of oxygen to the brain’s hypoxic areas.Reduces inflammation and oxidative stress which are two major components in neurological disorder.Increases the growth of new blood vessels Improves mitochondria function, which helps in cellular energy production and betterment in neuronsThe different Neurological Applications of HBOT are
Traumatic brain injury Traumatic Brain Injury (TBT) often causes an unexpected blood flow and oxygen delivery to the brain. This results in long – term cognitive and physical disabilities. After many clinical research it was known HBOT improves cerebral oxygenation, decrease in brain swelling and increasing the brain ability to change itself by the formation of new neural connections but further research is needed. It has been used to help people recover from their mental and physical challenges after traumatic brain injury.
Stroke recovery
A person who survives from stroke often suffer from motor, sensory, and cognitive disorder. A lot of cell death occurs in the brain after lack of oxygen during a stroke. However HBOT shows partial repair the damage. It helps cellular repair and also improves functional recovery by providing an oxygen – rich flow to the damaged brain parts.
Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline
Alzheimer’s diseases ( AD) is a continuous loss in cognitive function carried on by reducing brain oxygenation and neuronal death. With the increased blood flow HBOT may be able to reduce the continuous loss related to AD. However the research is ongoing and it’s in initial phase , the results may offer hope for interesting therapeutic applications of HBOT.
HBOT may have many benefits in neurological illness but there are many challenges that is needed to be known. As it is challenging to create same treatment protocols for HBOT because of the length, frequency and pressure settings vary. There are also limited number of large scale clinical trials that are needed to properly form the safety and efficiacy of HBOT in neurological diseases. Many people gets benefits from HBOT s but the availability of these benefits gets limited because of therapy’s high cost and limited availability.
(Author: Prof.(Dr.) Tarun Kumar Sahni, Head of Hyperbaric Medicine & Sr. Consultant Internal Medicine, Apollo Hospital Delhi)
