Breathing pure oxygen at atmospheric pressures up to twice the normal level is an indicated treatment for everything from severe burns to irritable bowel syndrome, according to most hyperbaric chamber clinics and die-hard proponents. In truth, there is only strong scientific evidence to support treatment for a handful of conditions, but some suggestive scientific evidence exists for a range of disorders and injuries. The treatment itself is called Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, or HBOT, and it provides benefits that are unattainable in any other environment, according to the Department of Hyperbaric Health at Phelps Memorial Medical Center.
Hyperoxygenation
Oxygen for the most part hitches a ride through the bloodstream bound to hemoglobin, or the red blood cells. A small percentage of it, though, travels in solution in the blood. The gas is actually dissolved in the blood stream. Breathing 100 percent oxygen, even at standard pressure, increases the amount of dissolved oxygen in the blood to a point that cell function could continue without using any of the oxygen carried by the hemoglobin. Increasing the pressure to as much as twice the norm experienced at sea level forces the dissolved oxygen to saturate the tissues, which is why HBOT is an indicated treatment for skin grafts and flaps that are compromised in the healing process.
Vasoconstriction
Hyperoxic blood causes the blood vessels in tissues to constrict, which provides a benefit to trauma victims. HBOT is a proscribed treatment for crush injuries, compartment syndrome and burn victims because, in the traumatized tissue, the blood vessels dilate, causing fluid to escape the channels and seep into the tissues causing edema. The vasoconstriction inspired by HBOT treatments, if applied soon enough after the injury, can halt this process resulting in a greater possibility of recovery in the traumatized area, according to Medline, a service provided by the National Institutes of Health.
Angiogenesis
Angiogenesis is the growth of new blood vessels, and that process is one of the key stages of the healing process. Other stages include the removal of infectious agents and stopping the body's natural inflammatory response so new tissue can be generated. Problem wounds result from a breakdown in one of these stages. HBOT stages increases vessel construction which helps more blood reach the affected tissue spawning new tissue growth and a renewed healing process, according to a 1998 study by R.M. Leach, et al., published in the Brittish Medical Journal.
Carbon Monoxide Displacement
One of the earliest indications for HBOT backed by mountains of clinical data was in the treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide bonds with hemoglobin, oxygen's primary carrier, with an efficiency 200 times greater than oxygen depriving the cells of the fundamental fuel they need to function. The time required for oxygen to displace toxic levels of carbon monoxide in the blood at normal concentrations and normal pressure can be hours. With HBOT, that time is reduced to minutes due to the high concentration and increased pressure, according to a 2002 study by Lindell K. Weaver, MD, et al., published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
References
- National Library of Medicine: Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber
- Phelps Memorial Hospital Center: Hyperbaric Medicine
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Hyperbaric Oxybgen Therapy for Brain Injury
- Dr. Cranton: Introduction to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
- New England Journal of Medicine: Hyperbaric Oxygen for Acute Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
