HBOT helps with Radiation Damage

The following resume of a study might be really important for
people who get radiation treatments for cancer. The number of cancer
patients keeps rising so I thought this can give hope for people trying
to heal from the damage radiation actually does to the tissue:

"Background. Radiotherapy, which is often used for cancer in the head and neck, leads to damage of tissue cells and vasculature. Surgery in such tissues has an increased complication rate, because wound healing requires angiogenesis and fibroplasia as well as white blood cell activity, all of which are jeopardized. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) raises oxygen levels in hypoxic tissue, stimulates angiogenesis and fibroplasia, and has antibacterial effects. Methods. In this consecutive retrospective study, 15 patients with soft-tissue wounds without signs of healing after surgery in full-dose (64 Gy) irradiated head and neck regions were treated with HBO and adjuvant therapy. The patients in this study were also compared with patients examined in an earlier study, with corresponding wounds treated without HBO. Results. The healing processes seemed to be initiated and accelerated by HBO. In the HBO group, 12 of 15 patients healed completely, 2 patients healed partially, and only 1 patient did not heal at all. There were no life-threatening complications. In the reference group, only 7 of 15 patients with corresponding wounds without signs of healing eventually healed without surgical intervention, and 2 patients had severe postoperative hemorrhage, which in one case was fatal. Conclusion. Evaluation of obtained results supports the hypothesis that HBO therapy has a clinically significant effect on initiation and acceleration of healing processes in irradiated soft tissues."(1)


(1)Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for wound complications after surgery in the irradiated head and neck : A review of the literature and a report of 15 consecutive patients.
Head Neck 1997; 19:315–22

Hyperbaric Oxygen for Cancer patients

This is a very interesting article on the different applications
of Hyperbaric Oxygen. Actually it is some information I
hadn't read like that before. It looks like HBOT can help repair
some of the damage that occurs during radiation therapy:

"Radiation therapy impairs cellular proliferation, causing a progressive, obliterative endarteritis, which results in hypocellular, hypovascular and hypoxic tissue. This is seen clinically as oedema, ulceration, bony necrosis and poor wound healing that can persist for years after the initial insult. High radiation doses may result in spontaneous radionecrosis.

HBO increases vascular density and oxygenation in radiation-damaged tissue.(1)"

"It improves tissue oxygen gradients and angiogenesis and enhances leukocyte bactericidal activity. Oxygen tension is increased to normal levels, enabling fibroblast proliferation, collagen formation and angiogenesis at the wound edges, further improving oxygenation and re-epithelialization.(2) This facilitates healing and may enable grafts to be placed. "

1. Marx RE, Ehler WJ, Tayapongsak P, Pierce LW. Relationship of oxygen dose to angiogenesis induction in irradiated tissue. Am J Surg 1990; 160:519–24.
2. Greenwood TW, Gilchrist AG. Hyperbaric oxygen and wound healing in post-irradiation head and neck surgery. Br J Surg 1973; 60:394–7

HBOT for ear problems

Here are some numbers from a big study done in Germany.
I thought that was very interesting for the poor victims of tinnitus:

"Accordingly, most of the studies show that HBOT is most effective in reducing hearing loss and tinnitus in the first three months following hearing loss or acoustic trauma. Regarding hearing loss alone, an overview of clinical studies from Germany shows HBOT is effective in 50% of cases in reducing hearing loss by 20 dB or more. Approximately 11% have a full recovery.

Regarding tinnitus, evaluations of 7766 patients in the same overview showed reduction of the intensity of tinnitus by 50% in approximately 70% of the cases treated within 3 months. Approximately 30% of patients had their tinnitus completely resolved. Tinnitus with duration of more than 3 months showed a 50% improvement in the intensity of tinnitus in 30% of patients. After 12 months of chronic tinnitus, no improvement was seen." 1

1. Lamm H.; Deer Influx deer hyperborean Sauerstofftherapie auf den Tinnitus und den Horverlust bei akuten und chronischen Innenohrschaden. Otolaryngol Nova 5 (1995) 161-9.