The two most dominant adult neurodegenerative diseases in the United States are stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI). The American Heart Association found that stroke is the number one cause of long-term disability in the United States, and TBI impacts the lives of approximately 3.1 billion people.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a medical treatment in which a patient breathes 100% oxygen while the pressure of the treatment chamber is increased to greater than atmospheric pressure. Under normal atmospheric conditions, we are subjected to approximately 14.7 pounds per square inch of pressure, and the air we breathe is composed of 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen. During HBOT the pressure can be increased up to three times normal atmospheric pressure creating a higher partial pressure of oxygen. HBOT is one of the safe, alternative therapies the BART Foundation believes may help brain injury survivors.
This research study published a year ago in Brain Circulation, a peer-reviewed journal published by The International Alliance for Translational Neuroscience (IATN), explores HBOT as a treatment to diminish potential damage caused by these neurodegenerative diseases. The study found more cell viability in the primary rat neuronal cells (PRNCs) that had received HBOT treatment. In addition, this study demonstrated the ability of HBOT as a treatment for inflammation in stroke and TBI. Along with a discussion of the study, this review also focuses on different stroke treatments compared to HBOT.
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