Research from various countries, for example, USA, Russia, Argentina, Italy, shows that oxygen therapy can help ease the symptoms of many people who have Multiple Sclerosis.

By breathing pure oxygen while under increased air pressure (hyperbaric oxygen) many people find relief from their symptoms and, it is thought, some help in slowing down the progression of the disease.

Centres in the UK were set up through the initiative of the former charity ARMS (Action and Research for Multiple Sclerosis), starting with the opening of the first charity-run centre in Dundee in 1983.

Thereafter, fresh centres opened each year and there are now more than sixty such centres throughout the UK providing HBO therapy alongside many other services (full details of centres can be found on MS Therapy Centres (UK and Ireland) page.

The centres started by designing their operations on information arising out of a controlled clinical trial in New York in 1980/1982. The results of the trial indicated both an improvement in symptoms and some protection from deterioration in more than half the people treated.

The results of subsequent studies in Britain and abroad varied from a worst of 'no obvious change' to a variety of positive changes.

Many of the British centres have been providing the therapy continuously for the last 14 years while the newer ones have been open for upwards of 6 years. In that time they have safely provided around a million and a half individual sessions to people with MS and, in recent years, have also treated people with other conditions from gangrene and slow-to-heal wounds or sores, to children with cerebral palsy and injured sportsmen and women.

The therapy is easy to take although it requires going to a centre regularly, ideally 3 or 4 times a month. The therapy actually takes place in a metal chamber usually large enough to seat 6-8 people, who spend an hour under pressure, breathing pure oxygen through masks. They can read, knit, play cards and are easily able to talk with the operator at any time. Operators are skilled and trained, have access to a specialist medical adviser and a manual to which they work. The therapy does not offer a cure but many people have benefited from reduced severity of symptoms, as mentioned below, and an improved quality of life.

To repeat, HBO is not a cure for MS - but it seems to offer effective help with such critical symptoms as fatigue, poor balance and mobility, sensory perception difficulties, incontinence and, in some cases,  speech problems. People intending to take up the therapy are provided with more detailed information by the centre and a note for their GP so that their records will include their use of the therapy. The note will also indicate that you may be given advice on nutrition or offered neuro-physiotherapy and will ask the GP whether you have any contra-indicated conditions. Rarely, an MS symptom will deteriorate and therapy may be discontinued.

Further information on this and other alternative therapies is available in The A to Z Guide to Alternative Therapies edited by Judy Graham and published by MSRC.

Advice on the procedure for providing HBO is readily available to any centre from medical advisers who specialise in this branch of medicine.

The Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Trust

The Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Trust, a not-for-profit, international organisation has just launched a website with the aim of becoming a global resource for the public and medical professionals. The Directors at Castle Craig, one of Europe's leading rehab clinics have created the online resource on behalf of the Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Trust (HBOTT) to promote the latest news and research in this fast developing treatment.

Researchers from Edinburgh University are already studying the effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment (HBOT) on alcoholic liver disease and stem cell mobilisation at Castle Craig Hospital in the Scottish Borders and the new website is now gathering international research on the subject for a global audience.

Divers suffering from 'the bends' have long been treated in pressurised oxygen chambers and medical staff at Castle Craig are using similar treatments to promote healing, particularly in liver and brain damage.

The new website gives a full overview of hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) which sees patients breathing 100% oxygen at elevated pressure to help aid cancer treatment and boost healing for disorders ranging from cardiovascular disease to MRSA and brain injuries including post traumatic stress disorder. It also provides the latest news and research from around the globe on the treatment, and aims to become the first port of call for medics and interested researchers to find out about developments in the field.

Castle Craig Hospital Chairman Peter McCann, founded the HBOTT and commissioned Channel 6 to create the website as a resource for the public and medical professionals. He said: "HBOT is a new type of therapy offered at Castle Craig – our own research is still in the early stages and, as far as I am aware, no other clinics or hospitals treating addictions in the UK are offering this treatment. The HBOTT is a not-for-profit organisation which aims to become a definitive online resource on HBOT for the public and medical professionals and we seek to promote further research into the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

“There are many medical professionals out there who don’t know about HBOT though increasingly doctors are looking at the research and growing number of case studies and realising its potential. It would take people a long time to trawl the internet for this amount of information themselves and so we decided to set up a website where people can find all the information they need in one place.”

Victoria McCann, communications manager for the HBOTT, said: “We needed a website where patients and medical professionals could easily access news articles, research and guidance on the treatment, and we are very pleased with what Channel 6 has delivered to us. We will be using the website to update information on an ongoing basis to make sure the newest research on HBOT is accessible to all.”

Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment

Patients spend on average 60 minutes at a time in the chamber during the painless and relaxing treatment, which allows ten times the normal amount of oxygen to be dissolved in the bloodstream. The oxygen boost can help white blood cells kill bacteria, reduces swelling and allows new blood vessels to grow more rapidly into damaged tissue.

Patients at Castle Craig are using the treatment to ease alcohol and drug withdrawal symptoms, and University of Edinburgh researchers aim to discover if HBOT increases stem cell production and thus speeds their recovery from liver disease. The hyperbaric chamber is also being used by members of the public wishing to aid recovery from disorders ranging from brain cell damage to healing wounds and elementary symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

For more information on the Hyperbaric Treatment Trust please visit http://www.hyperbaricoxygentherapy.org.uk and for more information on Castle Craig Hospital please go to http://www.castlecraig.co.uk

Richard A. Neubauer, M.D., Pioneer in the Use of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Neurologic Conditions, Dies at 83.

Richard Allen Neubauer, M.D., internationally recognised pioneer in the application of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for a variety of neurologic and related disorders, died on June 11, 2007. He remained active with research and clinical work until the last few weeks of his life and died at his home in Pompano Beach, FL.

Dr. Neubauer became interested in potential applications of HBOT during the early 1970s, at which time he acquired a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. He went on to establish and direct the Ocean Hyperbaric Neurologic Center in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, FL, where he treated people coming to the Center from throughout the world. His research and clinical practice led to the conclusion that with a hyperbaric chamber, pressurised oxygen could be provided to damaged central nervous system neurons and help restore their function. Among the conditions researched and treated at the Center have been multiple sclerosis, near drowning, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, anoxic encephalopathy, coma, and stroke. A recent focus has been the treatment of severely afflicted children with mitochondrial diseases.

His international reputation led to invitations to speak at numerous scientific meetings throughout the world. His travels as a lecturer on hyperbaric medicine included Europe, Asia, Africa, South American, and Australia. He also hosted six international hyperbaric oxygen symposia in South Florida. He was the author of Hyperbaric Oxygenation for Cerebral Palsy and the Brain Injured Child: A Promising Treatment and was coauthor of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. He has appeared on The Today Show, The Discovery Channel and countless national and international news broadcasts. He also wrote numerous book chapters and scientific articles on the treatment of neurologic conditions with hyperbaric oxygen. His letters and articles appeared in many scientific journals, including JAMA, Lancet, Stroke, The New England Journal of Medicine, The British Medical Journal and American Family Physician. Dr. Neubauer was dedicated to advancing knowledge about the potential of HBOT and he personally trained many physicians from around the US and multiple other countries. As a result, many patients even in the far corners of the world have benefited from this safe and effective type of therapy.

He was a native of Wilmington, DE. He attended the College of William and Mary, where he was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honorary society. He completed his medical training at the University of Virginia in 1947 and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha (honorary medical). He was involved in research and clinical medical practice in Wilmington and Philadelphia before relocating with his family to South Florida in 1962. There he developed a thriving practice in internal medicine and was instrumental in the establishment of Beach Hospital (later Cleveland Clinic) in Fort Lauderdale where he served as Chief of Staff and Director of Medical Development.

Among his many honours was his election to the Royal Society of Medicine. He was a founder of the American College of Hyperbaric Medicine and a member of the World Federation of Neurology Executive Committee on Underwater Medicine.

He is survived by the love of his life, his inspiration and his soul mate; his wife of 61 years, Winnie “Winkie” Isabelle Neubauer; four children, Richard Allen Neubauer, Jr. of Marysville, CA, David N. Neubauer of Baltimore, MD, Virginia Isabelle Neubauer Reilly of Margate, FL, and Marion Elizabeth Neubauer of Fort Lauderdale, FL; as well as two grandchildren, Rebecca Lynne Neubauer and Robert Martin Neubauer, living in Maryland.

Source: Honest Medicine (20/06/07)

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