HBOT for mental illness?

[blacknet]

Hello,

I just read this very interesting article on some russian studies. Stated that 72.5% of the studies has significant improvment after HBO treatment.

Wondering what could the benefits of this be and does this mean that divers who breathes higher concentrations of o2 are psychologicaly healthier than say non-divers or lower o2 consuming divers?

Ed

 

[joewr]

Disclaimer: The devil made me do it!

Black(fish)net(stockings),

From the way you write, you must have never had any treatments.........................

Now, how do I hide my name on this darn thing?

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

LOL no i've never had a treatment so I guess i'm mental er?

BTW what's the deal with the stocking stuff?

Ed

 

[Dr Deco]

Dear Blacknet:

There were some studies perform in the United States concerning improvement of IQ with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. However, it seemed to be that the cause of the improvement was not the oxygen itself but rather the attention and change of environment that produced the effect. This additional treatment consisted of the individuals being taken from the nursing home and transported to the chamber, the testing and the asking of questions about their health, etc.

All of this contributed to an improvement of mental health. It seems to indicate that the elderly respond to interaction with others - - - the same as do younger people. The message here is that children should keep in touch with their parents when they reach the "golden years."

Dr Deco

 

[scubadoc]

I'm afraid I'm responsible for bringing this to the attention of the board - since I published this information in my newsletter, The Ten Foot Stop. I thought that it might bring on some comment, and indeed it has. Not being fluent in Russian (G) - I have not read the original articles, so I can't swear that they are valid studies (Are any psychological studies valid?).

Here is an anecdotal report from a highly regarded individual (Dr.Tony Lee) about just such a case:

"Your recent Ten Foot stop newsletter has several articles on HBOT and mental illness. All purportedly reporting positive outcome with HBO2.

Just for your record:
We receive a diver who apparently became psychotic - showing typical manifestations of manic-depressive psychosis- a few hours after a dive. He was referred to us by his friend. Although suspecting something amiss we nevertheless treated him using a full USN 6 since the manifestations occurred just after diving.
The outcome was expected: after the USN 6 he emerged from the chamber just as psychotic as before. We referred him to a psychiatrist and he was treated 'successfully'. His wife later called as said that he had a similar 'attack' after diving about a year previously and was treated at a psychiatric clinic.

Here's anecdotal evidence that, in this patient, HBO2 has no effect on his psychiatric illness.

best regards and safe diving

Dr Chin-Thang Lee
Malaysia "

I'd like to hear from others any stories and anecdotes about HBOT for mental illness. If there are any good RCTs that I haven't been able to find - I'd like to know about them.

scubadoc
Ern Campbell, MD
Diving Medicine Online

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

Yes I sub to the 10' stop and thought it was rather interesting. I hear that the med community will run a treatment table 6 on you for looking at them funny. (meaning for anything at all) Just thought i'd post some comments here about it and see if there was any other input.

Ed

 

[Dr Deco]

Dear blacknet:

This very interesting topic discusses hyperbaric oxygen for memory. It was my assumption that the author referred to memory loss in the elderly, as I mentioned above. I was taught by my instructor in hyperbaric oxygen therapy (Eric Kindwall), that the effect is primarily the result of personal contact and interaction, and it has less to do with the oxygen itself. The following are some references, all of them old.

[sp]· Goldfarb AI, Hochstadt NJ, Jacobson JH 2nd, Weinstein EA. (1972). Hyperbaric oxygen treatment of organic mental syndrome in aged persons. J Gerontol. ;27(2):212-7.

[sp]· Raskin A, Gershon S, Crook TH, Sathananthan G, Ferris S. (1978). The effects of hyperbaric and normobaric oxygen on cognitive impairment in the elderly. Arch Gen Psychiatry ;35(1):50-6

The use of oxygen for poisoning from carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, or hydrogen sulfide is another matter. Here, oxygen under pressure has been shown to produce good results especially with regard to the “late neuropsychiatric syndrome.” This has been found in the United States and other parts of the world to be of benefit.

Some reports have also come out in favor of HBO for stoke victims. Apparently, it must be administered within an hour of ictus (= stroke). This was told to me a few years ago by Richard Neubauer, MD, of Florida. I have not heard anything recently, but at that time, he told me they we trying to get some form of HBO therapy on an EMS vehicle.

Therefore, HBO for senile dementia appears to not be successful, at least as currently applied. Other problems are more promising.

I hope that this helps.

Dr Deco

 

[Liquid]

Hm, interesting question Blacknet, but coming to think of it-
when diving you get even higher amounts of N2. I guess these will have reverse effects...