http://www.cohyperbarics.com/tbi-therapy/
TBI Therapy
The Recoverable Brain
This is for information only, and not to be considered as medical advice. Please consult with your physician
before considering any therapy protocol. Currently the F.D.A. considers HBOT for neurological conditions
experimental or “off label”. TreatNOW.org fully supports the F.D.A. for your full informed consent.
Hyperbaric Oxygen(HBOT) and the Recoverable
Brain:
For nearly 100 years doctors have been taught and lay people have been told that
there is nothing that can be done for a brain injury except the passage of time. We
have been led to believe that after an injury, brain cells are either alive and
functioning, or dead and not functioning. There was supposedly no middle ground.
In the past 15 years it has become obvious that brain cells are more like all of the
other cells in the body than they are different. And they respond to injury in the
same way. They can exist for years in a hypoxic state and can be reactivated with
the right stimulus, such as HBOT.
Once there is the realization that all cells in the body are similar, respond similarly
to injury, and similarly to HBOT, it is very easy to see why brain injuries respond
so well to HBOT.
The Problem
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The complex and continuous electrical activity of the brain is so discreet that we
are unaware that it is the mechanism behind communication and thus intellectual
and motor function.
Brain injury can lead to a blockage of the electrical pathways.
Depending on the location of the injury, the brain’s attempts to re-route through
blocked pathways may cause frustrated discharges of activity known as seizures.
What Causes the Blockage?
SPECT scans (computerized brain mapping) and fMRI show that not only does
brain injury produce cell death, it also reduces essential blood flow to a wider area
of brain tissue surrounding the dead cells, where signal re-routing might be
expected to take place.
How Does This Happen?
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Following a brain injury, many blood capillaries around the area of cell death
become torn open
The liquid part of the blood (the plasma) then leaks out causing a swelling that may
be very extensive.
This reduces cerebral blood flow in the affected areas
Reduction in blood flow means a reduction of essential nutrition (most vitally
oxygen), and a build up of waste products from local biochemical reactions (e.g.
lactate and calcium), which shut down normal cell function and further block
pathways
Why Doesn’t Capillary Healing Happen?
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If the capillaries are to heal, they desperately need oxygen.
Unfortunately, the tiny tubules leading to the torn capillaries become constricted
because of the damage.
This means that the Red Blood Cells needed to bring the healing oxygen are too
big to get through and simply get stuck in the “pipes.”
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Thus the plasma that is normally very low in oxygen continues to pour out,
maintaining the swelling with all its attendant problems which, if left unattended,
would last for years, even an entire life time.
Traumatic Brain Injury
The brain is similar to a large spear of broccoli. The broccoli fronds are like the
outer part of the brain, the cortex or grey matter, where the brain cells exist and the
spear or stalk is like the connecting tracts in the center of the brain. These tracts are
also known as the white matter. Trauma causes an injury to the brain that is
mechanistically identical to shaking the broccoli by its stalk. The shaking causes a
mechanical disruption of the connecting tracts between brain cells. These tracts are
similar to the cable that carries our cable television and broadband. Once disrupted
cells can’t communicate between themselves some of the cables die. Each cable
that is lost causes a loss of neurological function and/or cognitive function. In
addition, each microscopic site of neuron disruption or blood vessel trauma is a
wound in the brain that immediately starts the inflammatory reaction. It is also
associated with swelling, just like a swollen ankle or a bruise on the arm. As
swelling occurs the fluid compresses the small blood vessels in the area leading to
low blood flow and low oxygen. Nearby cells then are further injured and cause the
function to diminish or even die. This is known as the “vicious cycle” of traumatic
brain injury. The net result is loss of neurological function and symptoms such as
headache, confusion, problems with memory, attention, concentration, sleep
disturbance, irritability, etc.
How HBOT Works For Traumatic Brain Injury
HBOT has been shown to decrease swelling, repair the metabolic injury to the
neuron cells, and stop the inflammation in acute brain injuries with just a few
treatments in the first 72 hours after injury. It is the only drug known to break the
vicious cycle. Once the vicious cycle is broken neurological function is restored
and patients survive.
If HBOT is not used early on in traumatic injury the injury “matures” as
inflammation runs its course. Inflammation is “stereotypic” or identical regardless
of where in the body it occurs. It is the same process, the same story every time,
everywhere. The net result is nearly identical chronic wounds by the time the
wound is 6 months to 1 year old. The wound, at this point, resembles any other
wound in the body. A chronic wound that HBOT has been already been proven
effective in treating.
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Stroke as a Brain Injury:
HBOT may offer many people the chance to improve or reverse some stroke
symptoms if the damage, which has been done, is not severe or in critical areas.
The majority of strokes are caused by blood vessel obstructions, such as blood
clots, that cut off blood and oxygen to parts of the brain. This is called an ischemic
stroke, and results in the death of brain cells if the flow of blood is not restored
within a few minutes. The localized non-functioning area in the brain is called an
infarct. Previously healthy tissues surrounding the infarct also start to become
hypoxic; this are surrounding the infarct is referred to as the ischemic penumbra.
The ischemic penumbra contains dormant or idling neurons, brain cells that are
nonfunctional but intact. The disabilities that ensue depend upon what area of the
brain has been affected. Symptoms may include paralysis on one side of the body
and spasticity. This type of brain injury can reduce mobility, speech, and
swallowing ability. It can also create mental difficulties, memory loss and
personality changes.
HBOT for Stroke Recovery
With the use of HBOT, the dormant neurons in the ischemic penumbra can restore
their metabolism and function and the patient can sometimes make a significant
recovery. Often times, one part of the brain can take over the function of another
part of the brain. The brain then starts to sort out and reorganize function. This
ability to switch functions and reorganize is call plasticity. Some people may have
spontaneous improvement and if the damage is not severe can recover partial if not
all their function on their own. HBOT is used to ensures that optimal healing to
the idling, intact brain cells take place. This can offer a more optimistic outlook
for stroke patients as they see quicker and more profound recovery early on.
HBOT decreases swelling in brain tissues, relieves oxygen starvation known as
hypoxia, improves micro-circulation and reduces spasticity. The improvements
seen in patients have been reproduced in hyperbaric centers worldwide. Skeptical
physicians who have followed their stroke patient’s recovery using HBOT, soon
become convinced of the positive physiological changes their patients have
undergone. Positive effects using HBOT have been recorded in many studies
worldwide. Whether a patient is seen within the first 24 hours after a stroke or 10
years later, recovery of non functioning dormant cells has been seen. HBOT does
not resurrect dead neurons, but it does assist the wound healing capabilities in the
brain which is not available with any other form of therapy. The oxygenated
neurons gradually reconnect to the rest of the brain helping to return the use of lost
cognitive and motor functions.
TreatNOW.org wishes to thank TBI Therapy, and the founder, Dr. John Hughes,
D.O. He treats traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients using hyperbaric oxygen
therapy (HBOT) and adult stem cells. The procedures and protocols used at TBI
Therapy are patent pending, uniquely sophisticated, presently scarce, and at the
cutting edge of neuro-regenerative medicine. The important message is that TBI
and Concussions are treatable and have been for decades.
See: http://www.aspenintegrativemedicine.com/