Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Cerebral Palsy

In developing nations especially, birth defects such as Cerebral Palsy are common and untreatable.

Millions of people are unable to perform even simple tasks and are unable to join the workforce or be of any use to society through no fault of their own. What if there was a way to help these people through science and medicine? What if these so-called untreatable diseases can finally be addressed?

The amazing healing properties of hyperbaric oxygen therapy is now at our disposal, and it is proving to be a promising answer to the world’s crisis against the host of debilitating conditions all over the planet.

In this blog, we take a look at the relationship between hyperbaric oxygen therapy and cerebral palsy and how the alternative treatment may aid patients.

Hyperbaric Oxygen and Cerebral Palsy

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a revolutionary new form of therapy that involves patients entering a pressurized oxygen chamber that infuses the blood itself with high levels of O2, energizing the cells in our body and stimulating our restorative properties to combat chronic wounds and viral infections.

How does it work?

Under normal conditions, our red blood cells carry the maximum capacity of oxygen that they can. When we enter low air pressure areas (such as when we go up to higher altitudes on a plane or up a mountain) we experience a decrease of in oxygen in our blood, giving us that familiar dizziness and lightheadedness.

The opposite is true when we enter high pressure areas (such as when we go deep-sea diving). When high levels of oxygen suddenly enter the blood, it can sometimes cause sickness or even death, but in the controlled environment of a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, the extra oxygen is absorbed properly and actually enters our blood plasma.

When this happens, it gives the human body incredible benefits such as increased healing factors by energizing our cells, boosted immunity and even anti-aging properties by repairing our chromosomes and the DNA itself. Cerebral palsy or CP describes the group of trauma-induced brain disorders that affect motor skills, balance, and muscle weakness.

Cerebral Palsy occurs when the part of the brain that controls muscle movement becomes injured, damaged during childbirth, or is under-developed in utero. Most people with cerebral palsy have “congenital” CP which means they were born with cerebral palsy. In some cases, cerebral palsy can also start during or after birth, in which case it’s called “acquired” CP. 

Cerebral Palsy is a debilitating condition that affects around 1 in 345 children (3 per 1,000 8-year-old children) in the United States alone, according to 2010 estimates from CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. Cerebral palsy is considered the most common motor disability in childhood. According to a recent population-based study, the prevalence of CP around the world is estimated to range from 1 to nearly 4 per 1,000 live births or per 1,000 children born.

The severity of the symptoms of cerebral palsy is directly related to the severity of the ischemic incident. Symptoms of cerebral palsy range from mild issues with muscle control, to severe movement impairment that makes walking nearly impossible.

Some patients even develop speaking disabilities and are incapable of doing normal tasks like eating or opening doors. While others develop mental disabilities, and some have normal intelligence.

Symptoms that a child may show are directly related to the area of the brain that was impacted, and are as varied as the children’s individual personalities, living conditions and the events in their personal lives.

How Hyperbaric Oxygen can help Cerebral Palsy

Just like in many brain injuries such as stroke or TBI and concussion, hyperbaric oxygen therapy plays a critical role in helping the brain tissues heal faster. It does that in a few different ways. 

• Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment helps to reduce inflammation in the affected area by allowing the cells to absorb oxygen through the blood. 
• Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment stimulates the growth of stem cells, thereby helping the nerve tissue or the brain tissue to regenerate quicker when they are not healing at all. 
• Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment improves the process of regrowing blood vessels, a process known as angiogenesis. Brain injuries are often associated with significant loss of oxygen due to trauma to the circulatory system. Hyperbaric oxygen mitigates this by regrowing the actual blood vessels themselves, restoring the ability to deliver much needed oxygen back to the brain. 

Between reducing inflammation, stimulating stem cells, rebuilding the microcirculation, or the capillary network that feeds the brain, hyperbaric oxygen treatment plays a huge role in what’s called neuroplasticity, or the process of regrowing and reconnecting brain cells together to improve function.

Explore HBOT for Cerebral Palsy

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is a beneficial treatment to anyone suffering from non- healing wounds such as that seen in patients with cerebral palsy. Trauma to the brain is a non-healing wound that cannot be operated on or treated in any conventional way.

By inducing high levels of oxygen into the blood, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy essentially hacks our body’s natural healing factor, allowing it to regenerate damaged nerves and brain tissues on its own.

Neuroplasticity has a whole host of benefits, including better memory, disposition and brain functions, but for sufferers of cerebral palsy, it basically gives them a chance of living a normal life.

Hyperbaric Oxygen treatment could potentially improve the lives of millions of people suffering from cerebral palsy and other similar debilitating conditions. By giving patients a way to heal and regain motor functions, patients could experience more independence and find more fulfillment in their day to day lives, which improves the lives of their caregivers and relatives as well.

With more research, funding and better awareness, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy could become more readily available in the near future, bringing millions of disabled people back to the workforce and back to living healthier lives

Summary

•  In developing nations especially, birth defects such as Cerebral Palsy are common and untreatable. Millions of people are unable to perform even simple tasks and are unable to join the workforce or be of any use to society through no fault of their own.
• The amazing healing properties of hyperbaric oxygen therapy is now at our disposal, and it is proving to be a promising answer to the world’s crisis against the host of debilitating conditions all over the planet.
• Hyperbaric oxygen treatment is a revolutionary new form of therapy that involves patients entering a pressurized oxygen chamber that infuses the blood itself with high levels of O2, energizing the cells in our body and stimulating our restorative properties to combat chronic wounds and viral infections.
• Cerebral palsy or CP describes the group of trauma-induced brain disorders that affect motor skills, balance, and muscle weakness. Cerebral Palsy occurs when the part of the brain that controls muscle movement becomes injured, damaged during childbirth, or is under-developed in utero. 
• Between reducing inflammation, stimulating stem cells, rebuilding the microcirculation, or the capillary network that feeds the brain, hyperbaric oxygen treatment plays a huge role in what’s called neuroplasticity, or the process of regrowing and reconnecting brain cells together to improve function. 
• A study on the effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on cerebral palsy was conducted in 2014. The study involved 150 children divided into four groups exposed to varying pressures.
• All three groups exposed to hyperbaric oxygen showed dramatic improvements in their gross motor functions and general well-being. This goes to show that with increased pressure and increased oxygen comes a significant decrease in symptoms and increase in motor function, and it did not matter so much in terms of which pressure level was used.