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Diabetes & Hyperbarics

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy sessions last 60 minutes. Schedule Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy daily for the number of sessions recommended by your physician and/or based on the purchased package. Consider a baseline Hyperbaric Brain Map or QEEG before starting Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to evaluate concerns and observe benefit overtime.

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.

Improve Blood Chemistry Profile
  • Fasting Blood Sugar
  • Hemoglobin HgA1C
  • Lipid Profiles
  • Increase Pancreatic Islets of Langerhans
  • Improves Insulin Sensitivity
  • Increases Skeletal Muscle Reception of Glucose
Enhance Internal/External Healing
  • Promotes Closure of Non-Healing Wounds
  • Facilitates Healing of Ulcerations
Stimulate Blood Flow & Rreduce Inflammation
  • Improves Brain Function & Reduces Risk of Stroke
  • Enhances Heart Function & Reduces Risk of Heart Attack
  • Reduces Risk of Diabetic Neuropathy
  • Minimizes Risk of Diabetic Nephropathy
  • Combats Cellulitis

Study: Amputation Rate Decreased with HBOT

A study published in 2008 evaluated the efficacy of HBOT with respect to decreasing amputation rates for patients with diabetic foot ulcer. A total of 184 consecutive patients were treated with HBOT (one hour sessions, six days a week with examinations performed at three, six and 12 month intervals) as an adjunct to standard treatment modalities for diabetic foot ulcer. Following treatment, 115 (62 percent) were completely healed, 31 (17 percent) showed no improvement and 38 (21 percent) underwent amputation. HBOT’s success was illustrated by the attenuation to hypoxic tissue by the mechanisms of angiogenesis, fibroblast replication, collagen synthesis, revascularization, epithelialization and increased leukocyte bactericidal activity. This study confirmed that HBOT Can help to reduce major amputation rates in diabetic foot ulcers by repairing tissue.This finding is especially noteworthy considering other conventional treatments had failed.

REFERENCE

  1. Ahmet Kaya, FigenAydin, Taskin Altay, Levent Karapinar, Hasan Ozturk & Cengiz Karakuzu Canmajor amputation rates be decreased in diabetic foot ulcers with hyperbaricoxygen therapy? International Orthopaedics (SICOT) (2009) 33:441-446 DOI10.1007/s00264-008-0623-y

These statements have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. All of the statements made on this document are not anecdotal and have been taken directly from clinical data.