World Kidney Day: Hyperbaric Oxygen's Small But Vital Role in the Treatment of Kidney Disease

Happy World Kidney Day. How does hyperbaric oxygen figure in today's celebration and in the treatment of kidney disease? Scanning our own list of diseases and conditions we go straight to diabetic ulcers. Diabetes and obesity figure prominently in this formidable threat to the public health. We've written here and here about how hyperbaric oxygen therapy combined with dialysis helps spare kidneys in cases of crush injury, a signature wound of major earthquakes. And hyperbaric oxygen therapy in kidney disease and organ preservation has long been an active area of clinical research. A quick search of PubMed shows 353 studies since 1964. The Rubicon Research Repository contains 45 entries on the topic. The following video offers wise words of prevention and daily habits to maintain the health of your kidneys. Suddenly we're thirsty.



Correction 12:08AM 9 Mar 2012 to Rubicon search query link and results. Thanks to Gene Hobbs. - rem

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Family of Six Treated in Chamber at University of Maryland Shock Trauma

An entire family succumbed to furnace exhaust in their home early Tuesday and is now recovering from carbon monoxide poisoning after being rushed to the University of Maryland's Shock Trauma Center. See the full story on WUSA9. UM is not yet listed in our Maryland treatment center directory. The center may operate the only 24/7 hyperbaric chamber in the Washington-Baltimore region, as this report claims. We also note nearby chambers at Northwest Hospital in Randallstown, a UHMS accredited facility with a Level Two trauma center. We're on a mission to gather the most complete and reliable information about emergency-ready hyperbaric chambers to treat carbon monoxide and cyanide poisoning, smoke inhalation, burns, and other traumatic injuries.

Crush Injury: Life And Limbs To Save In Japan

Haiti, Chile, New Zealand—emerging from the rubble of recent quake disasters was a signature wound, the crush injury. Last weekend's Australian recounts one on-the-spot amputation in Christchurch like a scene straight out of 127 Hours. Too often an improvised amputation presents the only choice to save the life of a victim whose crushed muscles and tissues release toxins and particles that quickly overwhelm the organs, leading to profound shock and death. From the Australian article:

Physician Dario Gonzalez, a disaster rescue veteran and member of the New York Fire Department search and rescue squad, was among those who flew to Haiti to help rescue survivors. In a paper he notes that up to 40 per cent of survivors pulled out of collapsed, multi-storey buildings suffer from crush injuries. He also estimates that 20 per cent of the 242,769 deaths from the 1976 magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Tangshen, China, were caused by crush syndrome.

Kidney dialysis can be lifesaving if delivered soon enough. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can help promote healing and save limbs over the longer term.

We're digging for more news on the ground from Japan, where so many precious hours have already passed and access to transportation, electricity, and healthcare must be difficult or impossible after such a powerful quake and tsunami.

O2.0 is the news blog of HyperbaricLink, the independent web guide to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

HBOT For Bone Fracture: Fundamental Mechanisms

Out of Taiwan comes a new study with new insights into precisely how hyperbaric oxygen helps fractured bones heal. Scientists observed in vitro cultures of specialized bone-producing cells, called osteoblasts, under normal conditions and with hyperbaric oxygen. They found that "the proliferative effects of hyperbaric [oxygen] on osteoblasts may contribute to the recruitment of osteoblasts at the fracture site."

HBOT has long been used to treat broken bones associated with crush injuries, compartment syndrome, and other traumatic ischemias. Many hyperbaric physicians and patients claim HBOT accelerates the healing process. This primary research may support such claims by describing how hyperbaric oxygen stimulates the fundamental mechanisms of bone production.

A quick Google Scholar search shows nearly 7,000 articles on "hyperbaric AND fracture." Surely the next 7,000 will cite this study. And so will we, in a Bone Fractures page, coming soon to the HyperbaricLink Diseases and Conditions section.

Tiger Woods: New (Unpaid) HBOT Spokesman

In his pre-Masters press conference the golf great, by way of denying any illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs, says hyperbaric oxygen "helps you heal faster." Okay. Apparently it helped Tiger rehab from knee surgery and an achilles tear in 2008-2009. And he's certainly not alone. We've been following a long line of top athletes, from Australian cricketers to Superbowl stars to mixed martial artists, who swear by HBOT for speedier recovery. More soon.

But we're of a mind that HBOT is also a performance-enhancing therapy, akin to blood doping and this plasma-spinning thing Tiger's into. Even horse racing officials ban animals from competition for days or weeks following hyperbaric treatments. (Read our horse stories HERE.) We're especially fascinated by the rise of portable/personal hyperbarics for rehabilitation, performance, superhealth, fitness, anti-aging, wellness, and a host of other lifestyle applications.

Look for related blogposts and conditions pages as we dig and collect new HyperbaricLinks on this subject.

TBI: Pentagon Study To Commence 2011

A clinical trial to include 300 soldiers at 5 sites over 18 months, all coordinated by the Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) for Psychological Health & Brain Injury, is more good news for military veterans suffering traumatic brain injury (TBI) and another shot in the arm for evidence-based hyperbaric medicine. Read more about the study at Army Times.

P.S. Please accept this short PSA as our apology for neglecting to celebrate Brain Injury Awareness month in March.

HBOT Holds Hope For Haitian Violinist's Hand

Blind violinist Romel Joseph somehow survived the quake that killed his pregnant wife and destroyed his Port-au-Prince music school, and hyperbaric physicians at Jackson Memorial in Miami are still working to save his gifted left hand. We first met Joseph in Katie Couric's interview, following, from late January. Stevie Wonder has since visited, and we were pleased to get another progress report in Sunday's Washington Post. The story gives the seismic tragedy in Haiti a face and a soundtrack like no other. And we can only hope for a Hollywood ending in the fullness of time.

HBOT Saving Lives, Limbs After Haiti Quake

That's not the American hospital ship USS Comfort but the Italian carrier Cavour bringing hyperbaric wound care to earthquake victims in Haiti. The two are now working side by side offshore. Captain Gianluigi Reversi reports his ship's chamber—the only HBOT facility in the vicinity—has treated 30 patients and already "saved several legs and arms from amputation."

No doubt many of the Cavour's patients have suffered crush injuries. CNN's Dr Sanjay Gupta and other correspondents and first responders have been struck by the challenges of such complex wounds. Crush injuries may often lead to kidney failure by rhabdomyolysis, which the CDC has identified as one of the most urgent health concerns in the aftermath of the quake.

"If head injuries are the hallmark of the war in Afghanistan, the Haiti earthquake will be known for crush injuries," said Gupta.

Read the full report, "Crush injuries can be deceptively dangerous," at CNN.com.

Super Bowl XLIV: Saints, Colts Stars Betting On HBOT

Both teams in tomorrow's Super Bowl have a lot riding on the success of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Besides a pretty nifty ring, one winner may also claim the title of HBOT Poster Boy.

Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney is using HBOT to speed healing of a swollen right ankle. This week ESPN blogger Paul Kuharsky (photo right) posted a fun story about his own chamber experience after sampling Freeney's treatment protocol.

New Orleans Saints safety Darren Sharper actually sleeps in a portable chamber, not to rehabilitate from any injury but to supplement his strict diet and fitness regimen. He's only too happy to tell you all about it on YouTube (video below).




Once again we're full of questions about the efficacy of HBOT for speed-healing and the rightful place of mild (mHBOT) portable chambers and personal hyperbarics in this rapidly growing field of medicine. It'll be fun trying to catch up to all the professional athletes who swear by it.

Aussie Cricketer Dominates Holiday HBOT News

All through December about the only thing our usual newsfeeds wanted to know was, Will the Australian cricket skipper Ricky Ponting be healthy for the Boxing Day Test? To speed healing of a strained tendon in his elbow Ponting spent the night of his 35th birthday in a hyperbaric chamber. Seems to have worked. Yes, he played December 26, and played brilliantly, by all reliable accounts.

So we add another high-profile testimonial to a growing list of elite athletes using and promoting hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). And it's not just a fad. More and more professional athletes, trainers, and sports medicine professionals are choosing HBOT as an alternative or adjunctive treatment for sports injury rehabilitation. Even if claims of speedier healing don't find much support in the clinical literature, there's no stopping a trend this strong.

We're fascinated by the growing popularity of HBOT for sports rehabilitation. But could hyperbaric oxygen be considered a kind of performance-enhancing drug, like blood doping? Does room air at mild pressure (mHBOT) do any good? What dosages of pressure and oxygen work best for various types and severities of injury?

In time, today's active practitioners will find the answers in the clinic and spread the word among their peers. We're on the beat and on the side of healthcare consumers seeking useful information and easy connections to local clinics and physicians.

Off-Label HBOT: Stroke

We paused to read and reread and reflect before scoring the state of the evidence on HBOT for stroke. Let's err on the side of caution: promising. But, really, come on. What's not compelling about increasing blood flow deep in the brain to reduce the extent of tissue damage and speed healing, recovery, and rehabilitation? After all, the very same therapeutic mechanisms were good enough to get HBOT approved for intracranial abscess, not to mention acute traumatic ischemias and chronic wounds. (And stay tuned for traumatic brain injury.)

Jump to our new stroke page to learn more and to use our HyperbaricLink Evidence Index to guide your personal research.