Let’s dissect the name first. Hyper meaning more and baric meaning pressure, that is how the therapy works. Increased pressure of the oxygen we breathe in signals the DNA in out cells to trigger healing activities that our body fails to perform under normal conditions.
Oxygen and sugar is converted into cell-usable gasoline by the tiny organelles in our cell called mitochondria and the process is named cellular respiration. This however, is an extremely delicate process and even a hair thin alteration in the routine can knock the mitochondria off its place. Moreover, external exposure to toxic gases, hyper-immune reaction to an infection or some vaccine could equally damage the mitochondria. The hyperbaric oxygen therapy revives these little powerhouses named mitochondrias and what actually happens here is mitochondrial bio-genesis.
What are hyperbaric chambers?
Several types and sorts of hyperbaric chambers are available in the market. They come in variety of shapes and sizes but all are not equal or same. The ‘hard-shell’ chambers are usually the ones carved out of steel and acrylic and contains the power to hold a pressure of three atmospheres and beyond. There are both, one person small mono-place chambers and larger ones with a capacity of holding many people. The latter are termed multi-place chambers. Patients inside the chambers are provided with oxygen masks to help them absorb enriched oxygen under compressed pressure that immediately starts addressing the various injuries in the body, both internal and external.
The ‘soft-shell’ chambers or the portable ones which can inflate up to 1.3 times the normal atmospheric pressure. With the help of FDA licensed oxygen concentrators, even 1.3 atmospheres of room air increases the pressure of oxygen by as many as 50%.
The best pressure for the chamber and how good is more oxygen?
Most brain injuries respond to a particular pressure and that is 1.3 to 2.0 atmospheres. More pressure and more oxygen or more of everything is not required. Increased pressure increases the purity of oxygen and creates the correct ambiance for the brain to absorb maximum amount of glucose and revive its health.
Which is the right kind of chamber?
There are too many types of chambers available enough to leave you baffled. Few portable chambers are made out of cheap materials that definitely do not serve the best purpose. The manufacture and material should e personally taken care of while you buy it or take your child or any patient to the clinic that offers you this treatment. We would recommend you to buy or use one that is Pressure Vessel Certified.
Is the Therapy controversial?
It indeed is but more for political reasons than for physiological. In children with autism or with cerebral palsy, the over all motor function improved by 15% in both the patient groups. You still doubt the positive effects the treatment has? Pediatrics have proved in as early as 2005 that hyperbaric oxygen therapy can cure brain damage caused by fetal alcoholic syndrome. Even internal brain haemorrhage can be treated perfectly with the distilled oxygen at high pressure compression as offered by the treatment.
So, the boon that hyperbaric oxygen therapy is, not quite restricted to autism patients only but all those patients whose ailments can be positively treated with supply of pure oxygen. As a bottom-line to the research we can conclude that oxygen is the prime element that supports life and lack of it might cause a lot of known and even unknown distortions in an otherwise healthy physical condition. So hyperbaric oxygen therapy that supplies pure oxygen and enriches the body cells brings back the lost vigor, health and vitality.
