Diabetes is a leading cause of death in the US with over 30 million people either diagnosed or undiagnosed. Symptoms of diabetes can include neuropathies, slow healing wounds, brittle skin, poor vision, declining kidney function, fatigue, and heart disease. Multiple factors present in diabetes reduce the ability of insulin to move sugar into the cells, resulting in excessive sugar in the bloodstream. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) helps to lower blood sugar levels by sensitizing insulin to be more receptive to glucose. It has also been shown to vitalize the islets of Langerhans, which increases the amount of insulin present in the blood to further lower blood sugar.
Tissues in the body are prone to damage with chronically elevated blood sugar. For example, nerve damage can occur when someone has chronically high blood sugar. HBOT has been demonstrated to attenuate nerve death and promote healing throughout the body. This nerve damage can affect other systems of the body and cause wounds like diabetic ulcers to appear, which are challenging to treat. These wounds often fail to heal due to low levels of oxygen and lack of adequate blood supply. HBOT stimulates cell proliferation and promotes angiogenesis (the creation of new blood vessels) by increasing the levels of oxygen to all areas of the body. This accelerates the healing process and ultimately heals the wound.