Treating Diabetes With HBOT

Diabetes affects more than 12 million people and is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. With diabetes primarily affecting the small blood vessels, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been demonstrated to stimulate angiogenesis to help ameliorate compromised blood flow and prevent organ failure. Research has shown that HBOT can lower blood sugar levels by increasing cellular sensitivity to insulin and skeletal muscle reception of glucose. Furthermore, recent reports have provided evidence towards linking HBOT to regenerating pancreatic islets of Langerhans, thus potentially producing more insulin. HBOT is often beneficial in treating osteomyelitis and cellulitis, in addition to preventing systemic toxicity and permanent disability. With chronic diabetes, impaired circulation reduces wound healing capability and promotes ulcerations. HBOT increases the amount of oxygen available to ulcerated areas, leading to increased fibroblast activation.

Studies have demonstrated the benefits of HBOT for diabetes with the following:

• Improve Blood Chemistry Profile: fasting blood sugar, hemoglobin HbA1C, lipid profiles
• Advance Glycemic Control: increases pancreatic islets of Langerhans, improves insulin sensitivity, increases skeletal muscle reception of glucose
• Decrease Cardiovascular Risk: promotes long-term blood pressure control, attenuates metabolic syndrome, reduces risk of sudden heart attack due to ventricular arrhythmias
• Stimulate Angiogenesis & Reduce Inflammation: improves brain function & reduces risk of stroke, enhances heart function & reduces risk of heart attack, reduces risk of diabetic retinopathy, decreases risk of diabetic neuropathy, minimizes risk of diabetic nephropathy, combats cellulitis
• Enhance Internal/External Healing: proliferates epithelialization, promotes closure of non-healing wounds, decreases risk of infection, ameliorates ulcerations, reduces risk of amputation, remediates osteomyelitis

Study: Amputation Rate Decreased with HBOT

• A study published in 2008 evaluated the efficacy of HBOT with respect to decreasing amputation rates for patients with diabetic foot ulcer. A total of 184 consecutive patients received an average of 39 HBOT sessions (60 to 120 minutes a day, six times a week with patients’ progress evaluated at 3, 6 & 12 months) as an adjunct to standard treatment modalities for diabetic foot ulcer. Following treatment, 115 (62 percent) were completely healed, 31 (17 percent) showed no improvement and 38 (21 percent) underwent amputation. HBOT’s success was illustrated by the attenuation to hypoxic tissue by the mechanisms of angiogenesis, fibroblast replication, collagen synthesis, revascularization, epithelialization and increased leukocyte bactericidal activity. This study confirmed that HBOT can help to reduce major amputation rates in diabetic foot ulcers by repairing tissue.
• This finding is especially noteworthy considering other conventional treatments had failed.

HBOT SHOWS PROMISE

Here’s a little HBOT history for you….

OXYGEN THERAPY SHOWS PROMISE AGAINST A VARIETY OF AILMENTS

 

By Dr. Patrick Massey for the Daily Herald

 

A number of years ago, it was believed that doing surgery in large pressure chambers (hyperbaric chambers) would improve outcomes. To that end, some medical centers began to do surgery in hyperbaric chambers.

Hyperbaric chambers were very expensive and the overall results were not positive enough to justify the expense of doing surgery in them. As a result, over the next 30 years, hyperbaric chambers were rarely used.

However, advances in technology have lowered the cost of hyperbaric chambers to the point where physicians and medical centers are using them again.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is done inside a hyperbaric chamber. The patient is exposed to 100 percent oxygen at pressures slightly higher than normal in order to supersaturate the tissues with oxygen. First developed in the early 1900s by Orville Cunningham, hyperbaric therapy was not really used until the 1940s to treat deep-sea divers with decompression sickness. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was used during heart and lung surgery. Later, it was found to be beneficial to treat carbon monoxide poisoning and other medical conditions.

Although hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been the subject of controversy because of the lack of well controlled medical studies, there are a number of medical conditions for which there is substantial evidence that it is effective. These include decompression sickness (scuba diving), moderate to severe carbon monoxide poisoning, prevention and treatment of osteoradionecrosis (radiation therapy-induced bone damage), radiation therapy-induced soft-tissue damage, skin graft healing, enhanced healing after plastic surgery and in the treatment of chronic skin ulcers.

There are a number of other medical conditions for which hyperbaric oxygen might be beneficial but good clinical trials are lacking. Among these are autism, stroke, dementia, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, diabetic skin ulcers and even chronic fatigue syndrome. How hyperbaric oxygen helps decompression sickness and carbon monoxide poisoning is clearly defined. However, for most chronic medical conditions, how it works is less clear. It is believed higher oxygenation of the blood and tissues stimulates the growth of new blood vessels and nerves. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy might also reduce swelling and help acute brain and spinal cord injuries. There is some evidence that it might also help lymphedema, swelling and impairment from damage to the lymph system.

The side effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy are often mild and reversible. The most common side effects are claustrophobia and a readily reversible change in vision clarity. The only absolute reason to avoid hyperbaric therapy is a collapsed lung.

A Tip For Parents of Athletes

There has been much controversy lately about sports and injuries, particularly concussion, which can actually have long term affects that most parents aren’t aware of. But there is something that you – as parents of athletes – can do.

As concussions in sports become an increasingly prevalent issue, it is important for parents to know how they can help their child recover from concussions, regardless of its severity. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is one of the lowest-risk treatments available, and a good way to be proactive about helping a child suffering from post-concussion syndrome return to the classroom and playing field.

In a study by Dr. Paul Harch, one of the leading doctors in hyperbaric medicine, fifteen military personnel (all previously diagnosed with traumatic brain injury) were treated with forty hyperbaric oxygen treatments. Each patient made significant improvements in injury symptoms, physical exam results, cognitive measurements, and most importantly, quality of life ratings.

No physical injury can heal without oxygen, and the same applies for the brain. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy allows a patient to breathe 100% oxygen (as opposed to air from the atmosphere, which is 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen) in a pressurized chamber, which creates a higher concentration of oxygen in the bloodstream, which can improve circulation to impaired brain areas.

An article from the Division of Neurosurgery at Linda Loma University Medical Center acknowledges that many brain injuries result in reduced blood supply to affected tissues, which can impair brain function. Increasing the concentration of oxygen in the bloodstream can help repair damaged tissue, and reduce swelling and inflammation.

Typically, the standard approach for treating sports concussions involves a great deal of waiting. Concussed individuals are told to get cognitive rest and not over-stimulate the brain by using the phone and computer. After a concussion, athletes frequently complain of headaches and insomnia, and often privately struggle with anxiety, depression, and poor academic performance due to impaired brain function. Standard treatments may also involve medication, which can produce undesirable side effects.

Thankfully, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is highly effective and has minimal side effects. By comparing the risks of treating versus not treating your child for a concussion, it becomes clear that being proactive is essential. While concussion symptoms may improve through simply resting, they could also worsen. As you think about your athlete’s post-concussion treatment, ask yourself: are you and your child willing to deal with persistent effects of head injury?

While the short term symptoms of concussions such as dizziness and headaches may not seem serious, long term problems such as dementia-like symptoms and advanced aging of brain tissue are not to be taken lightly. Brain injuries that go untreated have also been linked to learning disabilities, social and relationship issues, low self-esteem, depression, and alcoholism. What we see as headaches now could present themselves as problems that are serious and difficult to treat in the future.

Although no healthcare facility can promise a cure for concussion symptoms, hyperbarics can provide help to many people, from athletes with minor head injuries to soldiers involved in IED explosions. Our hope is that in the future, hyperbaric oxygen therapy will come to be seen as a low-risk, effective procedure that can help improve many symptoms of head trauma.

Stop in and see us at Empower Wellness Center to find out how we can help your athlete.

So You’re interested in HyperBarics…Now What

Hyperbaric oxygen is used to treat all conditions which benefit from increased tissue oxygen availability, as well as infections where it can be used for its antibiotic properties, either as the primary therapy, or in conjunction with other drugs. It can also be used cosmetically for anti-aging, acne, and other conditions. HBOT can be used to treat whatever ails you.

Insurance and Medicare consider  the following conditions for HBOT to be covered for payment:

Air or Gas Embolism
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Compartment Syndrome/Crush Injury/Other Traumatic Ischemias
Decompression Sickness (Bends)
Diabetic and Selected Wounds
Exceptional Blood Loss (Anemia)
Gas Gangrene
Intracranial Abscess
Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infection
Osteoradionecrosis and Radiation Tissue Damage
Osteomyelitis (Refractory)
Skin Grafts and (Compromised) Flaps
Thermal Burns

The following conditions are off-label which may or may not be covered by insurance or Medicare:

Autism
Cerebral Palsy
Lyme Disease
Migraine
Multiple Sclerosis
Near Drowning
Recovery from Plastic Surgery
Sports Injuries
Stroke
Traumatic Brain Injury

At Empower Wellness Center, we will go above and beyond to be certain that you get the treatment you need.  YOU are why we have done this.  This service is for you and your loved ones.  If you have questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact us.

WHAT IS HBOT??

Here lies the healing magic of Hyperbaric Oxygenation.

Inside the pressurized chamber, the story unfolds. The injury site now begins to receive a healing dose of oxygen through the surrounding body fluids and plasma—even if the blood supply to the tissues is compromised.

Furthermore, to boost the oxygen concentration in oxygen chambers, supplemental oxygen may be added into hyperbaric chambers during treatment. Doctors and therapists commonly use enriched oxygen or an oxygen concentrator, also called an oxygen generator to help supplement the oxygen. As explained before, this oxygen will become infused into the numerous types of liquids in the body—blood, plasma, cerebral fluids.

And like the soda-pop in our analogy, the oxygen uptake will remain in the body for a time after treatment.The Gas Laws of Physics state that more gas is dissolved in a liquid by increasing the pressure of the gas.

Note: Breathing pure oxygen at 2 Atmospheres, gives 10 times the regular amount of oxygen (2 x 100% vs. 21%). In one hour, humans can inhale 2.4 pounds of oxygen! (Normal atmospheric pressure 1 ATA allows 6 pounds/day). Red blood cells instantly fill with oxygen and the extra oxygen dissolves directly into the blood fluid. In a few minutes, this extra oxygen builds up tissue oxygen levels far above normal.

The Principle of HBO is simple. Increase the atmospheric pressure and get a directly proportional increase in available oxygen. In other words, a twofold increase in pressure equals twice the available oxygen molecules to breathe.

How long the treatments last depends on the doctor’s particular protocol for that individual. Every person and every condition is unique. Hyperbaric treatments may require a one-hour or two-hour session. A treatment program may require 3 treatments a week for several weeks or more.