Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy has been used to treat patients with numerous disorders, including stroke.
HBO therapy has been shown to decrease brain swelling, normalize water content in the brain, decrease the severity of brain infarction, and maintain the blood-brain barrier integrity. In addition, HBO therapy heals motor function problems, decreases the risks of issues due to this, and prevents recurrent cerebral circulatory disorders, thereby leading to improved outcomes and survival.
Hyperbaric oxygen also accelerates the healing of atherosclerotic lesions, promotes antioxidant defenses, and suppresses the proliferation of cells that do harm in atherosclerotic lesions.
Although no medical treatment is available for patients with cerebral palsy, in some studies, HBO therapy has improved the function of damaged cells, so stopping the effects of low oxygen on the newborn brain, enhanced gross motor function and fine motor control, and alleviated spasticity.
In the treatment of patients with migraine, HBO therapy has
been shown to reduce intracranial pressure significantly and abort acute attacks of migraine, reduce migraine headache pain, and prevent cluster headache.
In studies that investigated the effects of HBO therapy on the damaged brain, the treatment was found to inhibit nerve death, arrest the progression of radiation-induced nerve death, improve blood flow in regions affected by chronic disease as well as metabolism in brain injury, and accelerate the resolution of clinical symptoms.
Hyperbaric oxygen has also been reported to accelerate neurologic recovery after spinal cord injury by helping mitochondrial dysfunction in the brain and spinal cord, arresting the spread of hemorrhage, reversing hypoxia, and reducing swelling.
The results of HBOT in the treatment of patients with stroke, atherosclerosis, cerebral palsy, intracranial pressure, headache, and brain and spinal cord injury are promising.
