Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is one of the safe, alternative therapies the BART Foundation believes may help brain injury survivors. One way we fulfill our mission is by carefully watching global research and clinical trial outcomes and sharing that information in user-friendly language with the TBI/ABI community. Perhaps if HBOT becomes more widely accepted as a treatment option, TBI/ABI survivors will be able to gain better access to this life-changing treatment.
We wanted to share an article we recently reviewed from The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry about research conducted at Tel Aviv University and the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research at the Shamir Medical Center in Israel. The Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine, the largest of its kind in the world, offers a comprehensive therapeutic array of hyperbaric facilities combined with diverse mental health professionals, psychologists, and psychiatrists. The Center treats hundreds of individuals diagnosed with PTSD every year.
We’ve included sections of the article from Neuroscience News below. To read the full piece, visit NeuroScienceNews.com. The original research was published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry and can be accessed by using the following link. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Veterans With Combat-Associated Posttraumatic Stress Disorder” by Shai Efrati et al.
PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) is defined as the mental outcome of exposure to a life-threatening event. About 20% of those who have undergone such an experience will develop PTSD, which can lead to substantial social, behavioral, and occupational dysfunctions.
In extreme cases, the disorder can severely impact their quality of life, family life, and professional performance. Symptoms include a range of emotional and cognitive changes, nightmares and flashbacks, hypervigilance, irritability, and avoidance—so as not to trigger traumatic experiences.
In many cases, PTSD is resistant to psychotherapy and common psychiatric medications. Past studies on therapy-resistant sufferers have found changes in the structure and function of brain tissues or a ‘biological wound’ that explains such treatment resistance. Researchers at Tel Aviv University and the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine wanted to determine whether hyperbaric therapy could help these patients.
The study, which began in 2019 and ended in the summer of 2023, included 98 male veterans diagnosed with combat-associated PTSD who had not responded to either psychotherapy or psychiatric medications. Participants were divided into two groups: one group received HBOT treatment, breathing pure high-pressure oxygen, while the other underwent the same procedure but received a placebo treatment, breathing regular air. Twenty-eight members of each group completed the process and the following evaluation.
The HBOT was administered in accordance with a unique treatment protocol developed at the center. Patients were given a series of 60 two-hour treatments in the hyperbaric chamber, during which they were exposed to pure 100% oxygen at a pressure of 2 atmospheres (twice the normal air pressure at sea level). The protocol specified alternately breathing oxygen and regular air: every 20 minutes, the patient removes the oxygen mask and breathes regular air for five minutes. The drop in oxygen level at the tissue level activates healing processes and enhances the therapeutic effect.
The results were encouraging, with improvements observed both at the clinical level and in fMRI imaging. The group that received hyperbaric therapy showed improved connectivity in brain networks, alongside a decline in all typical PTSD symptoms. In the placebo group, no change was observed in either the brain or clinical symptoms.
Conclusions: Dedicated HBOT protocol can improve PTSD symptoms of veterans with PTSD. The clinical improvement was accompanied by enhanced functional connectivity demonstrated by rsMRI.
Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04518007
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