Our regular columnist, @O2ron, is recovering from a computer meltdown. Computer and columnist are now fine, but there's a logjam of work to clear after our time at the 7th International Symposium.
While waiting for our favorite columnist to reappear you might enjoy this piece by one of our other favorite columnists, David Pogue of the New York Times.
Dictation software has come a long way. Back in the mid-'90s a programmer demonstrated an early version of Dragon Naturally Speaking for a group of computer science students at Harvard. Picture a sorcerer's apprentice scenario and you have an accurate picture of how well it went. People were getting up and leaving while the demonstrator tried to regain control of the computer by voice command.
Continuous incremental improvement yields results, and the accuracy of the current version of the program is almost eerie. (Not to be confused with Erie, Pennsylvania). It's a practice we follow at HyperbaricLink and we believe it will benefit the hyperbaric oxygen therapy community as much as giving our fingers a rest once in a while.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Weekly Web Roundup: 25 July 2010
Join us here every weekend (okay, so some weeks we get caught playing catch-up) for fresh hyperbaric oxygen therapy news from around the web and social networks.
SCIENCE
A retrospective study out of Turkey, published this week in European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, finds that HBOT combined with steroids was effective in the emergency treatment of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL).
PRESS/BUSINESS
Salt Lake Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine (Salt Lake City UT) has filed for Chapter 11 protection with the US Bankruptcy Court.
Forouz Jowkar joins the Hyperbaric Medical Center of New Mexico (Santa Fe NM).
Saskatchewan laments the loss of "the only privately owned hyperbaric chamber in the province" without describing the chamber or questioning its dubious history of service.
The Wound Care Institute at Lehigh Regional Medical Center (Lehigh Acres FL) boasts impressively high cure rates.
PATIENT STORIES
A 48-year-old "long-term pain survivor" and active leader in the CRPS/RSD community shares his HBOT experiences on the Pain Is A Four Letter Word blog.
A young wife tells of her husband's long recovery and hyperbaric oxygen treatments by Dr Paul Harch for IED brain injury and PTSD in the Wife Of A Wounded Soldier blog.
A 44-year-old woman enjoys success with HBOT for diabetic foot ulcers at Charlton Memorial Hospital (Fall River MA). Television news story here.
Harry Carson, former New York Giants linebacker and NFL Hall of Famer, gets HBOT for postconcussion syndrome at the PR savvy Hyperbaric Therapy USA (Newtown Square PA).
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy helps an 18-year-old with cerebral palsy achieve his dream of competing in the 2010 Special Olympics Summer Games in London, Ontario.
NEW HBOT CENTERS
The Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine at Tri-City Medical Center (Vista CA) comes to our attention with news it will open a second facility in Carlsbad CA this October.
St Joseph's Hospital (Chippewa Falls WI) has raised funds to open a wound care and hyperbaric medicine center with Diversified Clinical Services by the end of the year.
The story of a 3-year-old girl battling leukemia and flesh-eating bacterial infection draws our attention to the wound care services at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital (Fort Worth TX).
Paradise Valley Hospital (National City CA) offers wound healing and hyperbaric medicine services, new to us.
Clifton Springs Hospital & Clinic (Clifton Springs NY) offers HBOT with wound care services.
SCIENCE
A retrospective study out of Turkey, published this week in European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, finds that HBOT combined with steroids was effective in the emergency treatment of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL).
PRESS/BUSINESS
Salt Lake Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine (Salt Lake City UT) has filed for Chapter 11 protection with the US Bankruptcy Court.
Forouz Jowkar joins the Hyperbaric Medical Center of New Mexico (Santa Fe NM).
Saskatchewan laments the loss of "the only privately owned hyperbaric chamber in the province" without describing the chamber or questioning its dubious history of service.
The Wound Care Institute at Lehigh Regional Medical Center (Lehigh Acres FL) boasts impressively high cure rates.
PATIENT STORIES
A 48-year-old "long-term pain survivor" and active leader in the CRPS/RSD community shares his HBOT experiences on the Pain Is A Four Letter Word blog.
A young wife tells of her husband's long recovery and hyperbaric oxygen treatments by Dr Paul Harch for IED brain injury and PTSD in the Wife Of A Wounded Soldier blog.
A 44-year-old woman enjoys success with HBOT for diabetic foot ulcers at Charlton Memorial Hospital (Fall River MA). Television news story here.
Harry Carson, former New York Giants linebacker and NFL Hall of Famer, gets HBOT for postconcussion syndrome at the PR savvy Hyperbaric Therapy USA (Newtown Square PA).
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy helps an 18-year-old with cerebral palsy achieve his dream of competing in the 2010 Special Olympics Summer Games in London, Ontario.
NEW HBOT CENTERS
The Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine at Tri-City Medical Center (Vista CA) comes to our attention with news it will open a second facility in Carlsbad CA this October.
St Joseph's Hospital (Chippewa Falls WI) has raised funds to open a wound care and hyperbaric medicine center with Diversified Clinical Services by the end of the year.
The story of a 3-year-old girl battling leukemia and flesh-eating bacterial infection draws our attention to the wound care services at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital (Fort Worth TX).
Paradise Valley Hospital (National City CA) offers wound healing and hyperbaric medicine services, new to us.
Clifton Springs Hospital & Clinic (Clifton Springs NY) offers HBOT with wound care services.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Final Preparations For HBOT2010
Dr Don Jolly, Chairman of the Richard A Neubauer Research Institute, speaks passionately about hyperbaric oxygenation and urges everyone to attend the 7th International Symposium. We're flying off to California tomorrow to exhibit and participate Thursday through Saturday. Here's wishing our fellow attendees safe travels and a productive and inspiring meeting of minds.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Upstate NY Rescue Divers Run Chamber Scenarios
New York State Police use to keep a helicopter on standby to evacuate diving officers to the nearest chamber-equipped hospital in case of a decompression emergency. Now, through an arrangement with a local dive shop and Jefferson County, the Special Tactics and Rescue (STAR) team operates its own hyperbaric chamber at the Brownville Fire Department. The 6.0-atmosphere multiplace chamber is the only one accessible to New York's 50 state and county divers, from New York City to Buffalo, for practice and emergency use. For these rescuers deep dives usually involve retrieving drowning or murder victims. Thankfully the chamber has been used exclusively for training drills since it was installed two years ago. But what a good idea to keep dedicated equipment at the ready to keep these dedicated professionals safe.(Photo: Norm Johnston/Watertown Daily Times. State troopers on a chamber training run.)
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Weekly Web Roundup: 18 July 2010
Every weekend we bring you our weekly digest of the hyperbaric oxygen news. Comment below or Contact Us with newsworthy stories about all things HBOT.
SCIENCE
A paper in the May-June 2010 Polish Journal of Endocrinology concludes "HBOT was shown to have beneficial effects on atherosclerosis and glycaemic control" in a study of 28 diabetes patients with foot ulcers.
PRESS/BUSINESS
Suburban Philadelphia reporters first confirmed then denied that Lower Bucks Hospital, Bristol PA, will cease HBOT services in September following a court-ordered settlement of its heated dispute with Hyper Ox, Inc.
International Hyperbarics Association executive director Shannon Kenitz keynotes the US Autism & Asperger Association international conference August 9-12 in Park City UT.
PATIENT STORIES
The family of a 20-year-old woman credits hyperbaric treatment for her continuing recovery from brain injury after a brutal attack two years ago. Another version of her story here.
Surprisingly moving video about a Tennessee walking horse's recovery from severe colitis and endotoxemia with HBOT at the UT College of Veterinary Medicine.
Members of a band were rescued early Thursday morning from their burning house and one treated for smoke inhalation at the HCMC chamber in Minneapolis. Watch a firefighter talk about the rescue.
Videos from www.BalancedHealthToday.com don't usually make our cut, but here's a standout autism spot on Comcast Newsmakers with Hope Fine of South Florida Center for H.O.P.E.
A SCUBA diver and marine photographer in New Jersey blogs about his adult son's five-year-long struggle with traumatic brain injury and success with HBOT at Mount Vernon Hospital, Mount Vernon NY.
A 64-year-old man saves his right foot with HBOT at Carle Foundation Hospital, Urban IL, after a lawnmower accident. Ouch.
NEW HBOT CENTERS
The Center for Wound Healing & Hyperbaric Medicine at Trinitas Regional Medical Center, Elizabeth NJ, comes to our attention with its effective multimedia promotion.
EMSA Hyperbaric & Wellness Center, Brookfield CT, offers HBOT with chiropractic, massage, and holistic health and lifestyle counseling.
St Francis Wound Center, Columbus GA, says it's the first in Georgia to use the BARA-MED chamber with O.S.C.A.R. by ETC Biomedical Systems.
We learn of the Wound Care Center at New River Medical Center, Monticello MN, with its announcement of a move to the hospital's Professional Building.
Black Hills Hyperbaric, Rapid City SD, is suddenly listed everywhere but on HyperbaricLink.
Wound care centers at Lower Bucks Hospital (Bristol), Grand View Hospital (Sellersville), and St Mary's Medical Center (Langhorne), in suburban Philadelphia PA, all come to our attention via the Lower Bucks-Hyper Ox story above.
Polson Hyperbaric Oxygen, Polson MT, just opened on US Hwy 93 next to Insty Prints.
Decatur County Memorial Hospital, Greensburg IN, tells us they begin treating patients August 2.
Spring Hill Regional Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine Center grabs our attention with a Tampa Tribune story about limb salvage for an 83-year-old woman with diabetes and wound healing for a paralyzed Vietnam War veteran.
New Care Therapies—Hyperbaric Oxygen Studio, Louisville KY, is new to us and mighty active on Facebook. Welcome.
Banner Boswell Medical Center, Sun City AZ, publicizes its Wound Care Center with a story of one recent "graduate," a 94-year-old woman recovering from skin cancer and a fall on a rock.
Greenwich Hospital, Greenwich CT, lit up our Google Alerts dashboard with its Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Healing.
SCIENCE
A paper in the May-June 2010 Polish Journal of Endocrinology concludes "HBOT was shown to have beneficial effects on atherosclerosis and glycaemic control" in a study of 28 diabetes patients with foot ulcers.
PRESS/BUSINESS
Suburban Philadelphia reporters first confirmed then denied that Lower Bucks Hospital, Bristol PA, will cease HBOT services in September following a court-ordered settlement of its heated dispute with Hyper Ox, Inc.
International Hyperbarics Association executive director Shannon Kenitz keynotes the US Autism & Asperger Association international conference August 9-12 in Park City UT.
PATIENT STORIES
The family of a 20-year-old woman credits hyperbaric treatment for her continuing recovery from brain injury after a brutal attack two years ago. Another version of her story here.
Surprisingly moving video about a Tennessee walking horse's recovery from severe colitis and endotoxemia with HBOT at the UT College of Veterinary Medicine.
Members of a band were rescued early Thursday morning from their burning house and one treated for smoke inhalation at the HCMC chamber in Minneapolis. Watch a firefighter talk about the rescue.
Videos from www.BalancedHealthToday.com don't usually make our cut, but here's a standout autism spot on Comcast Newsmakers with Hope Fine of South Florida Center for H.O.P.E.
A SCUBA diver and marine photographer in New Jersey blogs about his adult son's five-year-long struggle with traumatic brain injury and success with HBOT at Mount Vernon Hospital, Mount Vernon NY.
A 64-year-old man saves his right foot with HBOT at Carle Foundation Hospital, Urban IL, after a lawnmower accident. Ouch.
NEW HBOT CENTERS
The Center for Wound Healing & Hyperbaric Medicine at Trinitas Regional Medical Center, Elizabeth NJ, comes to our attention with its effective multimedia promotion.
EMSA Hyperbaric & Wellness Center, Brookfield CT, offers HBOT with chiropractic, massage, and holistic health and lifestyle counseling.
St Francis Wound Center, Columbus GA, says it's the first in Georgia to use the BARA-MED chamber with O.S.C.A.R. by ETC Biomedical Systems.
We learn of the Wound Care Center at New River Medical Center, Monticello MN, with its announcement of a move to the hospital's Professional Building.
Black Hills Hyperbaric, Rapid City SD, is suddenly listed everywhere but on HyperbaricLink.
Wound care centers at Lower Bucks Hospital (Bristol), Grand View Hospital (Sellersville), and St Mary's Medical Center (Langhorne), in suburban Philadelphia PA, all come to our attention via the Lower Bucks-Hyper Ox story above.
Polson Hyperbaric Oxygen, Polson MT, just opened on US Hwy 93 next to Insty Prints.
Decatur County Memorial Hospital, Greensburg IN, tells us they begin treating patients August 2.
Spring Hill Regional Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine Center grabs our attention with a Tampa Tribune story about limb salvage for an 83-year-old woman with diabetes and wound healing for a paralyzed Vietnam War veteran.
New Care Therapies—Hyperbaric Oxygen Studio, Louisville KY, is new to us and mighty active on Facebook. Welcome.
Banner Boswell Medical Center, Sun City AZ, publicizes its Wound Care Center with a story of one recent "graduate," a 94-year-old woman recovering from skin cancer and a fall on a rock.
Greenwich Hospital, Greenwich CT, lit up our Google Alerts dashboard with its Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Healing.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Improving HBOT's Signal-To-Noise Ratio
Meet sebastu_hbot, as we do every day on Twitter, in page after page of search results for HBOT updates. But for this Sebastian the "h" in hbot stands for hentai, Japanese for pornographic comics, animation, and video games. Dear, dear."Hyperbaric" and other innocent search terms may yield only slightly less comic or offensive results. The same useless updates reposted like clockwork every 7 hours by robots. Nameless blogs stuffed with Google AdSense banners and auto-generated gobbledygook. Poor facsimiles of 40-year-old scientific papers. Bad video testimonials shot a decade ago and posted every week since. Ghost twitterers pushing empty promises and shameless self-promotions.
Still we sift through Twitter and Facebook and Yahoo! groups and our own RSS feeds every day. There has never been a better way to stay abreast of so many specific subjects of topical interest, then pass along only the choicest bits to the busy reader. Some call it digital curation. We call it plain good manners. And we do so hope our daily blogposts and weekly roundups will send the hyperbaric community a strong, clear signal through the web's harsh noise.
Now say so long to these nice folks, Sebastu, wherever you are.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
HBOT2010: 7th Annual International Symposium
This time next week HyperbaricLink will be exhibiting in Orange County CA at the International Symposium on Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, organized by the Richard A Neubauer Research Institute. For some time now we've been looking forward to meeting and learning from more hyperbaric practitioners involved in more alternative and adjunctive uses of HBOT.CLICK HERE to learn more about the meeting, which aims to:
...provide improved awareness and educational interaction from some of the world's most eminent experts covering treatments relating to cerebral palsy, Lyme disease, spinal cord injury, autism, Alzheimer's, stroke, wound care, multiple sclerosis, near drowning, traumatic brain injury, coma, and anoxic encephalopathy.
This is the off-label crowd. We've heard them called worse. And for our own healthy curiosity and wide coverage of commonly treated diseases and conditions, we've quite often been counted among them. Good. High time we shook hands, then, put our heads together, and compared notes on current practices in hyperbaric oxygen therapy and the future of healing.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
HBOT For Diabetic Foot Ulcers: Awareness Saves Limbs
The fight to reduce amputations is perhaps the most effective, best organized, and fastest-growing use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy today. And our aging population makes it a bona fide public health imperative. Consider the standard set of statistics:
This television spot, a video news release circulating on local stations this week, reminds us how poorly this blog has covered advanced wound care for patients with diabetes. Such big companies and bright minds have been on the case for years, and wound care clinics seem to be doing so well. Yet providers all across the country tell us they welcome new ideas and better ways to raise awareness, improve education, and drive referrals. Now that's the kind of cause we can really get behind. So if you're listed, consider HyperbaricLink enlisted.
One final word till next time. A new Twitter follower is quick to play the Ounce of Prevention card. Here's some diabetic foot care guidelines from the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons: well-grounded advice about inspecting, grooming, bathing, moisturizing, and clothing your feet to avoid foot ulcers and infections in the first place.
- 23.6 million Americans with diabetes
- 1.6 million newly diagnosed every year
- 15% will develop foot ulcers
- 61% avoid amputation with traditional treatment
- 89% avoid amputation with traditional treatment plus HBOT
This television spot, a video news release circulating on local stations this week, reminds us how poorly this blog has covered advanced wound care for patients with diabetes. Such big companies and bright minds have been on the case for years, and wound care clinics seem to be doing so well. Yet providers all across the country tell us they welcome new ideas and better ways to raise awareness, improve education, and drive referrals. Now that's the kind of cause we can really get behind. So if you're listed, consider HyperbaricLink enlisted.
One final word till next time. A new Twitter follower is quick to play the Ounce of Prevention card. Here's some diabetic foot care guidelines from the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons: well-grounded advice about inspecting, grooming, bathing, moisturizing, and clothing your feet to avoid foot ulcers and infections in the first place.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Followup: Wazee Lake Diving Tragedy
Investigators are learning more from the lone survivor of Saturday's fatal diving accident in Wisconsin. Apparently one of the three men, all experienced divers, raced to the surface in sudden distress from a depth of nearly 200 feet. His two friends followed, skipping decompression stops themselves, to rush to his aid.Click here to read the Twin Cities Star Tribune report.
The local ABC-TV affiliate also interviewed Dr Bjorn Westguard, a hyperbaric physician at Hennepin County Medical Center, who explains what causes the bends and how hyperbaric oxygen works.
Monday, July 12, 2010
One Diver Dead, One Saved By HCMC Chamber
All around Wazee Lake, Wisconsin, are posted signs warning divers the nearest hyperbaric chamber is three hours away in Minneapolis. The distance proved too great for three men involved in a rare fatal incident of decompression sickness, or the bends. One died of cardiac arrest at the scene. One died after hours of hyperbaric oxygen treatment at Hennepin County Medical Center. One was treated and released.The region is fortunate to have HCMC at all. We've covered the center's successful battle for survival as our way of asking:
Why doesn't every Level 1 trauma center in America have 24/7 access to a hyperbaric chamber?
As we survey HBOT providers from coast to coast, to update the HyperbaricLink treatment center directory and upgrade select centers to ProfilePlus, we're noting the location of every ER-accessible chamber in the US. Once our survey is complete the hyperbaric community will have a powerful database to assess its emergency preparedness and take action to improve it. This cause is near to our hearts and central to our corporate mission.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Weekly Web Roundup: 11 July 2010
Catch up on the top HBOT business, science, and patient stories every weekend with HyperbaricLink.
SAFETY
A Sri Lankan website offers a concise overview of carbon monoxide poisoning and first aid.
PRESS/BUSINESS
The Wound Healing Program at Overlook Hospital, Summit NJ, has earned both UHMS accreditation and JCAHO certification.
Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda CA, adds "the largest monoplace hyperbaric chamber in a hospital west of Texas," the new Sechrist 4100, to its arsenal.
Point64 blog pictures the "Panama" chamber at Brooks AFB, San Antonio TX, the oldest operating hyperbaric chamber in the US, dating from 1904.
Divex Asia Pacific converts an industrial water chiller into a rescue HBOT chamber for ocean floor workers.
Today's Wound Clinic interviews Don Webber, VP Biomedical Systems at Environmental Tectonics Corporation.
SCIENCE
A rat study in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery could not find a wound-healing mechanism for HBOT in one mitochondrial marker (MnSOD) of oxidative stress.
University of Tokyo researchers publishing in the American Journal of Physiology, on a study of hairless mice, suggest that HBOT may slow skin wrinkling and thickening caused by UVB irradiation in sunlight.
PATIENT STORIES
A mother touchingly documents her and her daughter's first experiences with HBOT for autism on "Five kids, a dog, and a blog."
A 17-year-old from Santa Fe NM survived a horrific crash, suffered traumatic brain injury, and made a remarkable recovery with HBOT.
A woman in Central Florida, mother of a one-year-old triplet with severe brain damage, weighs the costs and benefits of HBOT in the "Mother of a Toddler and Triplets" blog.
A woman tells about her success with HBOT for reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) at Whole-Body Medicine in Trumbull CT.
A 47-year-old man recounts his success with HBOT for Lyme disease at Chico Hyperbaric Center, Chico CA.
An Iraq war veteran from Minnesota poses with Prince Harry and recounts his story of success with HBOT for traumatic brain injury in the Frazee-Vergas Forum.
A woman and her plastic surgeon explain how HBOT figured in the successful revision of a facial scar at the Beverly Hills Center for Hyperbaric Medicine.
World motorcycle sidecar champion Ben Birchall is undergoing HBOT to speed healing of skin grafts at the Isle of Man UK.
The 47-year-old president of an Italian sandal company, living in Ventura CA, pushes on and blogs bravely about his struggle to recover from traumatic brain injury.
NEW HBOT CENTERS
Munson Medical Center, Traverse City MI, has opened an advanced wound center with Accelecare.
Oak Leaf Surgical Hospital, Eau Claire WI, is running want ads to staff a wound care center with Hyperbaric Medicine Group scheduled to open in October.
Hutcheson Medical Center, Fort Oglethorpe GA, has opened an advanced wound center with Accelecare.
Santo Domingo Pueblo NM has invested in a mobile HBOT program to help tribal members with diabetes avoid limb amputation.
SAFETY
A Sri Lankan website offers a concise overview of carbon monoxide poisoning and first aid.
PRESS/BUSINESS
The Wound Healing Program at Overlook Hospital, Summit NJ, has earned both UHMS accreditation and JCAHO certification.
Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda CA, adds "the largest monoplace hyperbaric chamber in a hospital west of Texas," the new Sechrist 4100, to its arsenal.
Point64 blog pictures the "Panama" chamber at Brooks AFB, San Antonio TX, the oldest operating hyperbaric chamber in the US, dating from 1904.
Divex Asia Pacific converts an industrial water chiller into a rescue HBOT chamber for ocean floor workers.
Today's Wound Clinic interviews Don Webber, VP Biomedical Systems at Environmental Tectonics Corporation.
SCIENCE
A rat study in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery could not find a wound-healing mechanism for HBOT in one mitochondrial marker (MnSOD) of oxidative stress.
University of Tokyo researchers publishing in the American Journal of Physiology, on a study of hairless mice, suggest that HBOT may slow skin wrinkling and thickening caused by UVB irradiation in sunlight.
PATIENT STORIES
A mother touchingly documents her and her daughter's first experiences with HBOT for autism on "Five kids, a dog, and a blog."
A 17-year-old from Santa Fe NM survived a horrific crash, suffered traumatic brain injury, and made a remarkable recovery with HBOT.
A woman in Central Florida, mother of a one-year-old triplet with severe brain damage, weighs the costs and benefits of HBOT in the "Mother of a Toddler and Triplets" blog.
A woman tells about her success with HBOT for reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) at Whole-Body Medicine in Trumbull CT.
A 47-year-old man recounts his success with HBOT for Lyme disease at Chico Hyperbaric Center, Chico CA.
An Iraq war veteran from Minnesota poses with Prince Harry and recounts his story of success with HBOT for traumatic brain injury in the Frazee-Vergas Forum.
A woman and her plastic surgeon explain how HBOT figured in the successful revision of a facial scar at the Beverly Hills Center for Hyperbaric Medicine.
World motorcycle sidecar champion Ben Birchall is undergoing HBOT to speed healing of skin grafts at the Isle of Man UK.
The 47-year-old president of an Italian sandal company, living in Ventura CA, pushes on and blogs bravely about his struggle to recover from traumatic brain injury.
NEW HBOT CENTERS
Munson Medical Center, Traverse City MI, has opened an advanced wound center with Accelecare.
Oak Leaf Surgical Hospital, Eau Claire WI, is running want ads to staff a wound care center with Hyperbaric Medicine Group scheduled to open in October.
Hutcheson Medical Center, Fort Oglethorpe GA, has opened an advanced wound center with Accelecare.
Santo Domingo Pueblo NM has invested in a mobile HBOT program to help tribal members with diabetes avoid limb amputation.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Brain Wars: Soldiers Winning Long Fight For Treatment
In the last month wounded US military veterans won key victories in a protracted war to get the healthcare they deserve. We're gratified to see the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs taking swift action on services and benefits for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), thanks in no small part to increased pressure from the media.Leading the battle cry is the excellent "Brain Wars" series on National Public Radio. Frankly we're amazed at the official military and political responses to the June 8 broadcast on "All Things Considered." And we're apt to believe all this bad publicity also inspired the VA to ease its rules on PTSD last week, so more veterans can qualify for benefits.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy could play a pivotal role in the VA's successful treatment of these wounded soldiers. The major studies sponsored by the IHMA (ongoing and expanding) and the DCoE (scheduled to begin in January 2011) remain the talk of the industry. Meanwhile, hyperbaric physician-scientists continue to publish important new findings on TBI:
- Presenting at the 8th World Congress on Brain Injury in March, a team from Serbia found repetitive HBOT was effective in reducing brain scarring and inflammation in brain-injured rats.
- Publishing in the Journal of Neurotrauma in June, a team from China found HBOT neuroprotective in brain-injured rats.
- Publishing in the Journal of Neurosurgery in May, a team from Minnesota found hyperbaric oxygen more effective than normobaric oxygen in a prospective, randomized study of 69 patients with TBI.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Can HBOT Slow Aging?
We submit the curious case of the Painted Lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) to one curious questioner on Yahoo! Answers.Question: Can Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy make us age slower? Some people say it could. Others say there is no evidence for such. Anyone know of any realistic studies done?
Answer: Oh you'll never find a realistic study on anti-aging with hyperbaric oxygen, or with any other therapy. So let's go totally surreal. One Hundred Years of Solitude surreal.
Last month a group from LSU in New Orleans shared the results of a butterfly experiment. Yes, butterflies. What a great idea, huh? Lifespans in hyperbaric oxygen were pretty much normal for the caterpillar and chrysalis stages but quite longer than normal for the imago: 19.4 days with HBO versus 14 days average in nature.
This particular group of winged insects lived 38.5% longer in a hyperbaric oxygen habitat. Fascinating.
You and I can probably count on better results with a healthy diet, regular exercise, and plenty of sleep.
____________
Source(s): Gomez JE, et al, Louisiana State Univ Sch of Med. Controlled habitat for butterflies suitable for hyperbaric conditions research. Poster: Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society, Annual Scientific Meeting. June 2010.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Good Morning, HBOT!
Here's your hyperbaric oxygen on way too much coffee to wash down some classic morning show banter. The piece aired last October, but we just found it and had to run it. All in all an okay orientation—and a great plug for Hartford Hospital and OxyHeal both.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Online Patient Communities: From Openness To Outcomes
How wonderful to see so many online patient communities overflowing with people, stories, and data, data, data. All this new openness, allowing real-time access to real data on real patients experiencing real-world therapies, must rank among the highest and best uses of the Internet today.We're especially impressed with the bold attitude and steady growth of PatientsLikeMe, now 70,000 members strong in 15 disease communities. There is tremendous strength in numbers like these. Last month in JMIR, the Journal of Medical Internet Research, the company's research and development team published the results of a user survey. They found patients benefiting from each other in ways never possible before. Some switched doctors. Many started, switched, or stopped medications or changed dosages. Nearly all learned something new about their conditions and symptoms. And the scientists who follow these populations are gaining new insights that will inform new research and development for decades to come.
We cannot and should not depend on prospective, randomized clinical trials as the sole means of advancing evidence-based medicine for every innovative therapy. Observational research, using patient registries powered by the web, helps serious clinical investigators gather and analyze invaluable data on how drugs and devices actually work for larger patient populations.
We aspire to create similar opportunities for the HBOT community to openly share information on patient-reported outcomes for a range of off-label indications.
Until then we urge O2.0 readers and HyperbaricLink visitors who are currently undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia (almost 16,000 members) and multiple sclerosis (over 20,000 members) to please join those PatientsLikeMe communities. Go get involved, be counted, and help advance the science and practice of hyperbaric medicine.
Tell them about your hyperbaric experience. And tell them we sent you.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Weekly Web Roundup: 3 July 2010
Turn to HyperbaricLink every weekend for more hand-selected HBOT news from around the web. This week we're hypothesizing the Michael Jackson anniversary buzz crowded out the Science headlines.
SAFETY
A social media blitz announcing a new 2.0 ATA soft chamber (see Patients Medical under New HBOT Centers below) got us phoning around and digging into the Safety Standards for Pressure Vessels for Human Occupancy (PVHO-1) established by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for future blogposts and site content.
PRESS/BUSINESS
Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle WA, shares yet more news from the UHMS Annual Scientific Meeting (see our June 7 post). Dr James Holmes was elected to a 3-year term on the UHMS Board of Executive Directors. Dr Neil Hampson received the 2010 Ray Award for excellence in hyperbaric medicine.
Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis MN, is moving forward with its $9.85 million chamber replacement project. Click here to review our previous HCMC coverage.
PATIENT STORIES
The Washington Post reports that 11 were exposed, 4 hospitalized, and 2 successfully treated with hyperbaric oxygen for exposure to carbon monoxide from a vandalized water heater in an apartment building near Greenbelt MD.
A mother blogs in The Spectrum Spectacle about the progress of her 6-year-old boy with severe autism after 30 HBOT sessions.
Another mother, in one of the better video testimonials of its kind, tells about her son's progress with HBOT for autism.
The BBC reports that a Scottish man suffering the bends after diving off Porthkerris, Cornwall, was airlifted to Plymouth for hyperbaric oxygen treatment. He is still being treated for "water on the lung" and his condition unknown.
KRQE Sante Fe documents how HBOT is helping a Rio Rancho NM woman recover from a lightning strike that killed her husband during last year's 4th of July festivities.
NEW HBOT CENTERS
Patients Medical, an integrative medicine center in New York City, launches into hyperbarics with a 2.0 ATA soft chamber, "the only soft chamber of its kind available in a private office in Manhattan."
Aspirus Wausau Hospital, Wausau WI, announces a new two-chamber center with a mother's video story of her boy's treatment for delayed radiation injury.
St Luke's and Idaho Elks Rehabilitation Hospital are expanding HBOT services in Meridian and Boise ID.
G & G Holistic Addiction Treatment Center, North Miami Beach FL, adds mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
We learn of Sandhills Center for Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine, Hamlet NC, by way of its announcement that Dr Alan Coulson has passed the certification exam by the American College of Hyperbaric Medicine (ACHM).
We learn of Excela Advanced Wound Care, Greensburg PA, by way of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review coverage of its open house.
And we learn of the Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Oxygen Center at Chandler Regional Medical Center, Chandler AZ, by way of its announcement that CHT Daniel McCluskey has been appointed to the UHMS national survey team.
SAFETY
A social media blitz announcing a new 2.0 ATA soft chamber (see Patients Medical under New HBOT Centers below) got us phoning around and digging into the Safety Standards for Pressure Vessels for Human Occupancy (PVHO-1) established by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for future blogposts and site content.
PRESS/BUSINESS
Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle WA, shares yet more news from the UHMS Annual Scientific Meeting (see our June 7 post). Dr James Holmes was elected to a 3-year term on the UHMS Board of Executive Directors. Dr Neil Hampson received the 2010 Ray Award for excellence in hyperbaric medicine.
Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis MN, is moving forward with its $9.85 million chamber replacement project. Click here to review our previous HCMC coverage.
PATIENT STORIES
The Washington Post reports that 11 were exposed, 4 hospitalized, and 2 successfully treated with hyperbaric oxygen for exposure to carbon monoxide from a vandalized water heater in an apartment building near Greenbelt MD.
A mother blogs in The Spectrum Spectacle about the progress of her 6-year-old boy with severe autism after 30 HBOT sessions.
Another mother, in one of the better video testimonials of its kind, tells about her son's progress with HBOT for autism.
The BBC reports that a Scottish man suffering the bends after diving off Porthkerris, Cornwall, was airlifted to Plymouth for hyperbaric oxygen treatment. He is still being treated for "water on the lung" and his condition unknown.
KRQE Sante Fe documents how HBOT is helping a Rio Rancho NM woman recover from a lightning strike that killed her husband during last year's 4th of July festivities.
NEW HBOT CENTERS
Patients Medical, an integrative medicine center in New York City, launches into hyperbarics with a 2.0 ATA soft chamber, "the only soft chamber of its kind available in a private office in Manhattan."
Aspirus Wausau Hospital, Wausau WI, announces a new two-chamber center with a mother's video story of her boy's treatment for delayed radiation injury.
St Luke's and Idaho Elks Rehabilitation Hospital are expanding HBOT services in Meridian and Boise ID.
G & G Holistic Addiction Treatment Center, North Miami Beach FL, adds mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
We learn of Sandhills Center for Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine, Hamlet NC, by way of its announcement that Dr Alan Coulson has passed the certification exam by the American College of Hyperbaric Medicine (ACHM).
We learn of Excela Advanced Wound Care, Greensburg PA, by way of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review coverage of its open house.
And we learn of the Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Oxygen Center at Chandler Regional Medical Center, Chandler AZ, by way of its announcement that CHT Daniel McCluskey has been appointed to the UHMS national survey team.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)