How Hyperbaric Oxygen Works For PTSD Patients
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Neuro-imaging tests reveal that PTSD affects many areas of the brain. This damage includes hippocampal atrophy, altered activity in the insular cortex, and hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.
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These areas of the brain distinguish between safe and unsafe conditions. They control the brain’s interpretation of stimuli as well as fear of conditioning and cognitive and emotional reactions.
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Hyperbaric Oxygen provides 100% oxygen delivered under increased pressure that helps treat post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. This increased oxygen helps heal damaged brain tissue, improves blood flow, reduces inflammation, and promotes the growth of new tissue and blood vessels.
One Study Conducted By Dr. Paul Harch Analysed 29 Active-Duty Or Retired Military Personnel With PTSD.
After completing intense Hyperbaric Oxygen sessions 52% of those who met the PTSD checklist military diagnosis no longer met the diagnostic threshold. Improvements occurred in general anxiety, depression and PTSD symptoms. Out of the 12 participants that expressed suicidal thoughts at the beginning of the study, 10 no longer felt suicidal.
Mechanism
Hyperbaric Oxygen has been shown to reduce apoptosis, up regulate growth factors, promote anti-oxidant levels, and inhibit inflammatory cytokines. Hence, it is likely that HBO is advantageous in treating PTSD.
154 PTSD Patients Underwent HBO
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154 patients suffering from chronic neurocognitive damage had undergone Hyperbaric Oxygen
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HBO was associated with significant improvements in all of the cognitive domains
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The most prominent improvements were memory index and attention.
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The most striking changes observed when the group took a brain imaging scan were in the anterior cingulate and the post-central cortex, in the prefrontal areas, and in the temporal areas.
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To conclude, the largest published cohort trial demonstrated that Hyperbaric Oxygen was associated with significant cognitive improvements. The clinical improvements were well correlated with increased activity in the relevant brain areas.
View the Studies
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy as a potential treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder associated with traumatic brain injury
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5077240/
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (HBOT)
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04518007
Retrospective Case Series of Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treated with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0963689719853232\
Effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on chronic neurocognitive deficits of post-traumatic brain injury patients: retrospective analysis
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/9/e023387
A Phase I Study of Low-Pressure Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Blast-Induced Post-Concussion Syndrome and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder