Chronic Diseases and Pain
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Chronic Diseases and Pain
Crohn's/Colltis
Ulcerative colitis affects the rectum and variable amounts of the rest of the colon (the large bowel or intestine). Crohn’s disease, can affect any part of the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus. They usual flare-up with diarrhea and abdominal pain, then settles down again, although it is possible to have a single attack of the condition. In severe cases perianal wounds are common as well as internal fistulas and fissures with risk of perforation within skin, bladder, vagina and other parts of bowel. Common denominator is regional inflammation, local low blood supply (ischemia) and low oxygenation usually complicated with bacterial infection.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy limits the amount of inflammation in the bowels, and lowers levels of C-reactive protein and tumor necrosis factor alpha, markers of inflammation in the body. Pain has been alleviated, the patient’s weight improved, and bowel movements returned almost to normal.
The benefit of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis:
- Increased oxygen delivery to all body tissues and reduced inflammation
- Better oxygenation of the area around the wounds and fistulas triggers healing response and wound closure
- Reduced pain and intake of pain medications
- Reduced mental and physical stress
- Improving restoration of bowel’s flora
- Improved elimination of toxins and washout of the metabolic products
- Eliminating bacteria and infection as well as increasing the effect of antibiotics
- Enhancing the effect of medication
Fibromyalgia
Female sufferers of fibromyalgia outnumber males by about 9 to 1. It is the second most common illness presented to rheumatologists, led only by arthritis. Researchers estimate that 75 percent of fibromyalgia cases go unreported. [ Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2011 ]
Fibromyalgia has no known cause. Researchers have observed abnormalities of central nervous system processes and imbalances of brain chemicals and growth hormone. People with fibromyalgia may have three times the normal concentration of Substance P, a spinal fluid chemical that amplifies pain signals. Many patients attribute the onset of fibromyalgia to a particular injury, illness, or traumatic event. The condition does not progress and does not damage bones, joints, or tissues.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been shown to reduce the pain and tenderness associated with fibromyalgia and other chronic pain disorders. Some researchers believe HBOT also changes brain function associated with chronic pain conditions.
Lupus
Multiple Sclerosis
In multiple sclerosis the body’s own immune system attacks the lines of communication between nerve cells. But scientists don’t know the root cause of this mechanism. Over the past two decades, extensive international medical research has demonstrated that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) can play an extremely important role in the treatment of MS. In many European countries, HBOT is now considered an integral part of the MS treatment program – in England alone, over 10,000 MS patients are currently receiving hyperbaric oxygen treatment.
Many MS people report improvements in their overall symptoms and their functional ability. Patients have reported improvements with their ataxia, numbness in their fingers and hands, balance, visual fields, concentration, pain, weakness, and dizziness.
The medical community has been rather slow to accept HBOT as an alternative therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS). However, there is scientific evidence to suggest that oxygen treatment does have beneficial effects for MS sufferers, and increasingly doctors worldwide are recommending it as part of their patients’ care plans.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments should be initiated as soon as the condition is diagnosed, and before irreversible lesions have become established. This does not mean that patients whose diagnosis was determined more than five years previously will not benefit.
Why is HBOT so effective for MS?
HBOT consists of administering pure oxygen under pressure. There is oxygen in every breath we take, but only 21% of it. In a hyperbaric chamber, you breathe in 100% oxygen at up to 2 times the normal atmospheric pressure.
The heightened pressure conditions allow the extra oxygen to dissolve in the blood plasma, enabling all areas of the body to become flooded with it, including those where circulation is poor or blocked.
Oxygen is essential to all body tissues, particularly injured ones that require oxygen to heal. Extra oxygenation through HBOT is proven to accelerate the healing process and reduce inflammation. Inflammation in the central nervous system is a signature characteristic of MS, which is one of the reasons why HBOT can retard the progression of the illness. HBOT is also known to boost energy, promote faster recovery from fatigue, reduce pain, and improve concentration and mental clarity, thus alleviating many of the symptoms of MS.
Neuropathy
Of the estimated 20 million people in the United States with diabetes, 3 million struggle with DPN – and even patients with pre-diabetes and impaired glucose (blood sugar) tolerance may have symptoms. The older the person is, the longer he or she has had diabetes, and the less-controlled the disease, the greater chance of feeling pain because of damaged nerves.
Fifty percent of patients with long-standing diabetes have numbness, burning, electrical sensations, stabbing, or shooting pain in their feet or legs—and it’s usually worse at night. While the pain is uncomfortable, the lack of sensation can have even worse consequences. If a person’s shoes fit improperly, are too tight, have rough spots inside, or rub when the person walks, the blisters, abrasions or cuts may not be felt. Because circulation is not as good as it is for people without diabetes, these wounds can become infected and very difficult to heal.
When prescription pain medications are administered, the primary goal is to numb the nerve roots at the level of the spine. In this way, the pain signals cannot reach the brain thus these dysfunctional nerve signals are not perceived as pain. In time the body becomes resilient to medications, requiring periodic dosage increases. This leads to numbness in the extremities, fuzzy thinking and loss of perception of knowing where your feet are in time and space. These symptoms can mimic Alzheimer’s and compound your medical situation.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has been known to be effective in controlling and reversing the pain and dysfunction associated with diabetic and non-diabetic neuropathies of the arms, hands, legs and feet. Hyperbaric oxygen promotes healthy nerve function through healing instead of pain cover-up.
Hyperbaric oxygen:
- Reduces swelling, increases energy production for nerve restoration
- Eliminates inflammation, allowing healing to occur
- Improves blood cell health, thus improving oxygen carrying and delivery efficiency
- Greatly enhances white cell killing of unfriendly bacteria and some fungi at high oxygen pressures
- Facilitates elimination of bone infections
- Reduces the number of operations and deaths associated with poor circulation related tissue infections
- Extremely important is its stimulation of new capillary and vessel growth, promoting nerve health
- Finally, it promotes better tissue survival and healing of damaged tissue
Rheumatoid Arthritis
The definitive causes of arthritis are unknown. In osteoarthritis, or degenerative joint disease, the cartilage, surrounding tissue, and bone may be destroyed by physical wear, infection, or aging. In rheumatoid arthritis, a faulty immune response may cause inflammation that erodes the joint linings called synovial membranes. There is no cure for arthritis. Many people with arthritis successfully manage or improve their quality of life with physical therapy, exercise, weight control, and medications.
International studies are finding that hyperbaric oxygen therapy is markedly superior to the routine treatment of RA. In 1995, the Proceedings of the Eleventh International Congress on Hyperbaric Medicine published the results of one particular study.
These results indicated the following effects of hyperbaric oxygen on the disease:
- Remission: 23.4%
- Obvious effect: 51.4%
- Improvement: 16.2%
- No effect: 8.1%
The total summarized effective rate of hyperbaric oxygen in treating RA was 91.9%. The authors of the study concluded, “In the treatment we find that hyperbaric oxygen is markedly superior to the routine treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.”
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has become a standard of practice for RA in many countries. Clinical practice has proved that hyperbaric oxygen therapy has good effects on analgesia, lowering blood sedimentation rate, stabilizing immunologic function, and strengthening the body’s resistance for eliminating pathogenic factors. It is also beneficial for the repair of the diseased joints.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has actually been found to inhibit the development of the disease process. HBOT can suppress inflammation due either to immune factors or infection. Moreover, daily hyperbaric oxygen therapy suppresses the inflammatory response even if the disease is fully developed; however, the treatment of RA with hyperbaric oxygen therapy is more effective in the early stages of the disease.
RSD Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy & CRPS Regional Pain Syndrome
CRPS can follow a simple trauma (fall or sprain) a break or fracture (especially wrist and ankle) a sharp force injury (such as a knife or bullet wound), heart problems, infections, surgery, RSI/CTS, spinal injuries/disorders, or major trauma. But the precipitating cause is not always known. The original injury may happen weeks, months, or even years before the proper diagnosis is made, which contributes to this problem. CRPS strikes both men and women, but typically about 75% of patients are women. It strikes victims from 1 to 101, although about 65% of patients contract the disease in their thirties and/or forties.
There are four Main Symptoms/Criteria for a diagnosis of CRPS: constant chronic burning pain, inflammation, spasms-in blood vessels and muscles of the extremities, and insomnia/emotional disturbance (including limbic system changes). Not all four symptoms are required for a diagnosis but most patients do have at least three out of the four at any one time.
CRPS is ranked as the most painful form of chronic pain that exists today by the McGill Pain Index.
Hyperbaric oxygenation decreases inflammation and edema while increasing blood flow to the starved limbs and nerves that are damaged by the course of the disease.
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