Learn how advanced oxygen therapy at Midwest Hyperbarics can accelerate healing, reduce inflammation, and enhance overall wellness for a range of conditions.
EDUCATION
Discovered by Joseph Priestly in 1775, oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe (after hydrogen and helium). Oxygen makes up 89% of the world’s oceans and 20% of our atmosphere. Often termed the “divine element,” oxygen is the ultimate electron receptor and is at the heart of every energy-generating chemical reaction in humans. We obtain oxygen in our bodies by breathing it in and ingesting it in the form of carbohydrates. We expel it in the form of H2O (water) and CO2 (carbon dioxide).
Although it is necessary to have oxygen to have a flame, it by itself is not flammable. It is incendiary and gives volatility to ignite things, which is why we need to focus on safety precautions when administering it in higher concentrations. At our current pressures on earth, oxygen is poorly soluble and requires carrier proteins in our blood, such as hemoglobin and myoglobin. These water-soluble proteins combine with transfer metals like iron to store and deliver oxygen through the bloodstream to the tissues.
Increased pressure is necessary to get the oxygen into the solution. Even breathing 100% oxygen at normal pressures does very little to increase the delivery of oxygen. If one increases the ambient pressure enough, the oxygen can be compressed into the serum and, ultimately, the tissues and cells without even needing hemoglobin (red blood cells). Oxygen is essential for life, and receiving greater amounts of it for short periods of time promotes healing, new blood vessel formation, and alleviation of inflammation. However, too much of it for too long can lead to oxygen toxicity.
OXYGEN
THE LARGEST HYPERBARIC CHAMBER
EVER BUILT
1928
Fifth-floor Rec Room - Smoking Allowed
The million-dollar facility, engineered by Alois Hauser, chief engineer of Timken Co. at the time, was considered the first "attempt in human history to house people in such a unique structure." After nearly a year of hard labor by the Melbourne Construction Company, the facility opened to the first of its patients on December 1, 1928. No luxury was spared in the the five-story, sixty-five foot, 900-ton sphere. Able to accommodate forty patients at a time, the climate-controlled environment maintained a steady sixty-eight degrees with sixty-five percent humidity.
The Cunningham Sanitarium
[ SOURCE CITED ]
"
"
Fifth-floor Rec Room - Smoking Allowed
Spherical Hyperbaric Chamber
1662: British physician Henshaw uses compressed air in a steel container to treat patients
1783: French physician Caillens reportedly uses oxygen therapy for the first time
1789: Lavoisier and Seguin report the toxic effects of concentrated oxygen
1834: French physician Junod builds the first hyperbaric chamber in France
1877: The first portable hyperbaric chamber is developed
1878: Paul Bert, known as the "father of hyperbaric physiology," documents the toxic effects of hyperbaric oxygen on the central nervous system
1917: Dräger devises a system for treating diving accidents
1937: Behnke and Shaw use hyperbaric oxygen to treat decompression sickness
1956: Ite Boerema, known as the "father of modern hyperbaric medicine," publishes the first clinical paper on HBOT
1960s: HBOT becomes a part of medical practice to treat gas gangrene and carbon monoxide poisoning
1999: The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society and Food and Drug Administration recognize the value of HBOT
2004: Hyperbaric medicine becomes an independent medical discipline
A BRIEF
TIMELINE
OF HBOT
A BRIEF TIMELINE OF HBOT
The Fountain of Youth has always been a pursuit of men and women. A study from Israel showing the elongation of telomeres on DNA with the use of HBOT sparked a new interest. It is clear that HBOT does promote healing, stem cell release, and angiogenesis, but does it make us live longer? Unfortunately, the key to a longer and healthier life is just living healthy.
We know that protracted starvation diets and or starvation oxygen regimens prolong our survival. It seems to slow us down and reduce oxidative stress on our bodies. But who wants to live longer in a slowed, uncomfortable starvation state?
Conversely, overeating or overbreathing high oxygen will shorten your life. Being overweight compounds our ability to harbor toxins and creates insulin resistance. Too much oxygen or too high a pressure over too long will also shorten your life.
Using intermittent hyperbaric oxygen therapy dramatically improves wound healing. And life really is a series of injuries. Hopefully, it's not too severe. So, using HBOT regularly is very helpful, especially if treating some form of an inflammatory condition. When we suffer any injury, inflammation results, and blood flow to the area is somewhat limited. The injury results in hypoxia at the injury site, exacerbating the entire injury. Getting oxygen directly to the injury site helps immensely; it also releases stem cells and promotes new blood vessel formation to the area. So, any type of injury is helped.
Acute injuries are the most dramatic in their response; concussions, strokes, surgery, sudden hearing loss, facial paralysis, etc will greatly benefit from HBOT in a relatively short time. The more chronic the condition, such as chronic inflammatory conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (i.e., Crohn's, ulcerative colitis), fibromyalgia, Lyme disease, etc., all take a protracted treatment and may be better off purchasing a chamber for their home.
LONGEVITY
THE LONG TERM HEALING OF HBOT
The concept of pressure was understood long before the discovery of oxygen. In simplest terms, it is force over area and is relatively intuitive. However, the power of pressure over our physiology is incredible, even trumping changes in oxygen concentration.
In the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, Caisson's (watertight retaining structures) were pressurized to push the water out and allow workers to build the footings for the bridge deep underwater. Because they were at such a high pressure, the gases were compressed into the worker's tissues over the hours. When they emerged to the surface, the gases expanded back to their original state in the tissues as air bubbles. This process caused excruciating pain and often resulted in a terrible death. Not finding relief in any posture, the workers would bend over in almost a fetal position, leading to the term "Bends". The air we breathe is 80% nitrogen, an inert gas, so it was really the problem. Being inert, the cells could not metabolize or excrete the nitrogen, so it was lethal. The Bends was also called Caisson's Disease, now termed Decompression Illness.
It did not take long to realize that the workers could gain relief by going back down under pressure and recompressing the air bubbles into a solution. By replacing the Nitrogen with Oxygen, the cells could slowly metabolize and excrete the oxygen air bubbles as the patient ascended. This is essentially Hyperbaric oxygen.
When we place someone into the hyperbaric oxygen chamber and dive them to twice atmospheric pressure (2 ATA), we essentially double their oxygen concentration. This is done without even increasing the oxygen concentration in which they breathe. Unfortunately, this also doubles their Nitrogen concentration, which can lead to Decompression Illness.
Without pressure, there really are no benefits in just breathing 100% oxygen. Going to an "oxygen bar" and atmospheric pressure just saturates the hemoglobin. Adding more hemoglobin, such as what Lance Armstrong did during his bike races, does aid in delivering more oxygen to the tissues. However, this is also risky for several reasons. By adding pressure and oxygen, the oxygen can be compressed into the blood serum, tissues, and cells, yielding tremendous healing benefits.
"Life without Blood" was in a paper written by Boerma, a cardiac surgeon, in 1960. He literally took all the red blood cells out of some pigs, and they lived just fine for an hour in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. If you had cut them, they would have had clear serum circulating in their vessels. However, the pressure compressed the oxygen into the serum and tissues, negating the need for hemoglobin and red blood cells. He constructed a hyperbaric operating room and was able to perform heart surgery successfully in it.
When you get into the chamber and descend for a treatment, you will notice the change in pressure in your ears. You will physically need to swallow, yawn, or even plug your nose and blow. Doing this will equalize the pressure in the middle air ear with the air around you. You will need to do this consistently on your descent and your ascent. You may also feel the temperature rise a bit. Your stomach may grumble a bit as you are being compressed all over.
Once you reach your target pressure, those symptoms stop, and you feel no different than usual. It is essential to breathe oxygen primarily to avoid nitrogen compression into the tissues. Most folks take a nap or say some prayers at this stage.
On ascent or emergence, you must again clear your ears regularly. Ascending typically goes a bit faster than the descent, and you will notice it cooling rapidly.
