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The content and information provided within this site is for informational and educational purposes only. Consult a doctor before pursuing any form of therapy, including Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. The Information provided within this site is not to be considered Medical Advice. In Full Support of the F.D.A., Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is considered Investigational, Experimental, or Off Label.
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Brain Injury and Recovery with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Hyperbaric Oxygen simply means oxygen given at increased barometric pressure
The Problem
- The complex and almost 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) show that not only does brain
injury produce cell death, but 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?
- After 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?
- 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."
- 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.
Reprinted with Permission
Brain Disorders/Neurological Index
