Treating Neurodegenerative Diseases with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has been shown to improve dementia. While this is not a cure, it appears to improve brain function and symptomatology that results in higher cognitive performance. It may be helpful in preventing such conditions and slowing progression as further research supports HBOT’s role in these conditions. Neurodegenerative diseases affect many of your bodily functions, including breathing, heart rate, talking, balance, movement, coordination, processing, and memory. While there are a number of diseases in this category, some of the most well known are Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Dementia is not a specific disease, but rather a term that encompasses decline in memory, thought, and ability to perform activities of daily living.

Common conditions

Neurodegeneration can describe a wide range of conditions, but common include:

• Dementia
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Parkinson’s Disease

How can hyperbaric oxygen therapy help with Neurodegeneration?

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may be helpful due to its ability to improve brain tissue function through its ability to:

• provide abundant levels of plasma-rich oxygen to our brain tissue for healing
• reduces neuro-inflammation within our brain and throughout our body
• stimulate growth hormone release of trophic factor to enhance neuroplasticity formation to rewire the way we perceive pain and signal through our trigeminal nerve
• stimulate growth of new blood vessels to supply the brain with even more circulation and oxygen to promote brain health and function by stimulating growth factors (vascular endothelial growth factor)
• balance our fight or flight and relaxation and digestion systems by strengthening the function of our autonomic nervous system, which is an extremely common cofactor in migraine related disorders as it relates to blood flow within our brain and especially important in the meningeal layer during migraine vascular pain.
• increase stem cell production for healing
• improving detoxification
• enhances cerebrospinal fluid flow

Researchers concluded that mild hyperbaric oxygen treatments were effective in preventing the progression of Parkinson’s disease in mice.

Recent studies suggest that hyperbaric oxygen therapy could also help reverse the progression of dementia by preventing the deposit of amyloid plaques on the brain cells and even leading to the removal of existing ones. By releasing this burden and helping rid the brain cells of existing plaques, cognitive decline may be reversed.

These researchers also say hyperbaric oxygen therapy boosts the overall functioning of the human brain.

Patients suffering from the early stages of dementia have improved memory and brain function following sessions in hyperbaric chambers, research finds.

Increasing oxygen to the brain may help regenerate brain cells that are suffering from a reduction in blood flow (hypoxia) in association with the clumping of plaques which nerve communication.