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| Cell Physiology; Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy |
The building block of our cells and the foundation for regeneration is the cell. When our cells are healthy, it is an edge. A healthy cell must have oxygen. With every breath a person takes oxygen enters the lungs and attaches to red blood cells. The red blood cell then transports the oxygen to all the cells in the body. Without oxygen, a cell will likely die, and with insufficient oxygen, a cell will weaken and degenerate.
Hyperbaric oxygen is oxygen under pressure. The pressure causes the blood plasma and other bodily fluids to absorb much larger quantities of oxygen. This increase in oxygen reaches all cells, tissues, glands and organs. Hyperbaric means higher than atmospheric pressure.
 Hyperbaric oxygen is provided through a sealed chamber into which oxygen is pumped under pressure. The therapy allows oxygen to be absorbed by the body three to five times faster. Hyperbaric oxygen chambers (previously referred to as decompression chambers) were developed for divers with the bends, from surfacing too fast and not “depressurizing.” This is known as decompression sickness. If a diver would ascend to the surface too rapidly, as the pressure is released so is gas from the cells (they expand) and they can expand so rapidly that they burst, create embolism and carbon monoxide poisoning. Divers call this the “bends”.
Dr. Izaak van Elk, a scientist from the Netherlands designed the chamber that is currently used for therapy. His research was applied to patients who had heart attacks and stroke at Lutheran General in Park Ridge, Illinois. The results did not show the promise that Dr. van Elk had hoped for and the project was abandoned. The project was picked up years later by numerous physicians and the FDA has finally approved the use of hyperbaric therapy.
The increased oxygen is able to allow circulation to reach areas of inflammation; with normal amounts of oxygenation the body may have trouble getting oxygen through they tiny capillaries that lead to areas of injury, inflammation, damage, burn and occlusion. Every cell has a purpose and when the cell absorbs oxygen it is able to perform its’ function.
Hyperbaric treatment is also being used with brain injuries, brain swelling, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injuries. Stroke patients have shown neurological improvement after oxygen therapy.
Athletes have now discovered hyperbaric therapy as an accelerator to healing and recovery. Since the FDA approval, these chambers can be purchased and rented and many athletes now use them in their homes. |
