Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Hyperbaric Chamber Treatment For Lyme Disease

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Treating Lyme Disease With Hbot

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Lyme Disease

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy was once used solely for divers suffering from decompression sickness and those with smoke inhalation. In the last decade or so the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy scope has broadened, the medical procedure has been used for patients with non-healing diabetic wounds, pre/post cosmetic surgery, non-healing surgical wounds, radiation damage from cancer treatments, and LYME Disease.

What is Lyme Disease? Lyme Disease is the most common tick-borne illness in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2018 Lyme was in the top 5 Nationally Notifiable diseases. Deer ticks are responsible for human infection of the disease. As they bite the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi is transmitted into the victims bloodstream.

Those with lyme disease experience symptoms such as fever, headache, fatigue, and a bulls-eye rash referred to as erythema migrans. The infection can develop into serious debilitating health issues leading to muscle and joint aches, cognitive disorders, sleep disturbance and affecting the heart and nervous system.

Ticks are most active on Long Island in the warmer months between Late March and September which is when you are more susceptible to being bitten .

#HBOT #HyperbaricOxygen #LymeDisease #NSHH

Traditional Treatment Courses For Lyme Disease

When it comes to Lyme disease, early treatment is critical. Traditional treatment is an extended course of oral antibiotics. In more severe cases, intravenous antibiotics may be given. When treated early enough, the course of antibiotics is often enough to cure the disease and patients recover quickly. In some cases, patients will continue to experience symptoms even after treatment. In these cases, an additional course of antibiotics may help. However, research has shown that longer courses of antibiotics rarely provide benefits.

Patients that do not respond to antibiotics, or those that begin treatment late in the disease, are often unable to find relief. On the contrary, they continue to battle with chronic conditions and permanent damage to joints and the nervous system. Johns Hopkins researchers determined that many patients treated and, according to testing, cured of the condition, often suffer lingering issues. Their research concluded that Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome is a credible diagnosis. However, patients are left with no effective traditional treatments. This is where hyperbaric oxygen therapy often provides relief where nothing else can.

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Treating Lyme Disease In Humans

Lyme disease is a type of bacteria that infects people, making them very sick. Treating Lyme disease in humans is tricky because the symptoms come and go since toxins are left behind. To complicate matters, in 2013, scientists from the Mayo Clinic discovered another type of bacteria that causes Lyme disease. Antibiotics changed to kill multiple types of bacteria.

Johns Hopkins did a study that found even with antibiotic treatments, not all symptoms subside. While some antibiotics work at killing off bacteria, there are toxins and metals left behind in the body. Treatment is difficult because conditions can develop that are not treated with antibiotics.

For this reason, doctors have started treating patients with more than just antibiotics. It is becoming more common to recommend that patients use hyperbaric chamber therapy with medications to attack the bacteria and symptoms from multiple angles. This is especially important if the person has a type of bacteria that becomes resistance to traditional antibiotic therapy.

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As Lyme Disease Progresses

If left untreated, symptoms will continue to progress. They spread to other areas of the body and often become resistant to traditional antibiotic treatment. Additional symptoms that develop in the months after initial exposure include:

  • Erythema Migrans Spreads The initial target rash continues to spread. In many cases, additional target rashes can develop on other areas of the body.
  • Joint and Muscular Complications Lyme disease can attack the joints in your body, causing severe pain and swelling. While it can affect any joint in the body, the knees tend to be a target. This can be referred to as Lyme arthritis. Pain can extend beyond the joints, affecting tendons, muscles and even cause bone pain.
  • Neurological Complications Neurological symptoms can surface within weeks of infection or can develop months or years later. Lyme disease can cause impaired muscle movement, numbness or weakness in the arms and legs, and nerve pain. Bells palsy , meningitis and spinal cord inflammation also occur.
  • Severe Fatigue This goes beyond the need to take a nap or feeling overly tired. This level of fatigue can be debilitating and greatly affects your quality of life.
  • Organ Involvement In severe cases, Lyme disease can affect various organs in the body. This includes eye inflammation, heart complications or inflammation of the liver.
  • Cognitive Complications Impaired memory, confusion, inability to concentrate and loss of words. Completing daily tasks may become difficult.

What Is Lyme Disease

Oxygen therapy / Hyperbaric chamber / Lyme Disease ...

Lyme disease is a disease spread through tick bites and is one of the most common airborne diseases in the US. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 30,000 cases are reported annually.

Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted to people by infected deer ticks. While short term victims of Lyme disease report symptoms such as bull -eye rash, fever, flu-like symptoms, migraines, fatigue, joint and muscle pains, a high number of cases are misdiagnosed and immediately grow into a more severe illness called late disseminated Lyme.

Early treatment with antibiotics can cure Lyme disease outright however, delaying treatment can create long-term complications. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is great in this situation, as it has been shown to help treat Lyme disease.

Recommended Reading: What Type Of Doctors Treat Lyme Disease

How Hbot Works In The Body

  • Removal of Bacteria and Toxins The increased levels of oxygen in the blood delivered from HBOT kills off bacteria and viruses, while also removing heavy metals and toxins often present with Lyme disease.
  • Production of Stem Cells Increased levels of oxygen in the blood help stimulate the production of additional stem cells in the body. These stem cells seek out and repair damaged tissue. This helps alleviate joint and muscle pain associated with chronic Lyme disease.
  • New Blood Vessels and Better Blood Flow HBOT treatments work to greatly reduce the levels of inflammation in the body by helping to grow and establish new blood vessels to allow oxygen-rich blood to reach inflamed tissues.
  • Stimulates the Production of White Blood Cells Higher oxygen levels promote the production of white blood cells and give the bodys immune system a boost. This, essentially, promotes the bodys healing properties and the body begins recovery.
  • Repairs Brain Function The pressurized levels of oxygen HBOT delivers to the body stimulate brain function and help restore cognitive abilities, with most patients recovering most, if not all, memory and functional thinking.
  • Damaged Organs Recover In chronic cases where organs such as the heart, liver, and eyes are affected, the increased oxygen contributes to healing and, in most cases, the organs return to normal function.

What Is Hyperbaric Treatment Like

There are two types of hyperbaric chambers, soft and hard. You want to do the rigid enclosure as it offers 100 percent oxygen compared to the quiet section only provides 25 percent. The partition I went in was a transparent tube, and your entire body was enclosed. You can not have your cell phone or any watch inside. The facility I went to had a television and music to entertain you during your treatment. My dives were approximately 90 minutes. It was very relaxing, and I didnt feel anything. However, if you are claustrophobic, you may have a difficult time. You need to go 10-30 times before you see improvements.

Because the treatment requires so many visits in a condensed period, it proves to be very costly and time-consuming. Some Chronic Lyme patients had attributed HBOT therapy to curing them when nothing else worked. HBOT facilities are hard to find as well, but you can try your local hospital.

I found this excellent summary of Lyme and HBOT Studies on the National Hyperbaric Treatment Center website.

Today, HBOT does not have FDA approval to treat Lyme disease, and doctors use it as an off-label course of treatment. While it may not yet have FDA approval, numerous studies have shown the effectiveness of HBOT in treating Lyme disease.

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Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy For Lyme

Several Lyme warriors I have spoken to, including myself, have tried Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, also called HBOT for Lyme Disease. HBOT is a pressurized environment with high concentrations of oxygen. You probably have heard of hyperbaric chambers being used for when someone gets the Benz scuba diving. However, HBOT has been successful for some with Chronic Lyme. You can read more about Brynn Alexanders success story here or Sam Perrys story.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy For Autoimmune Disease

Lyme Disease, Basic Training and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

We are closing out our Autoimmune series by exploring another highly effective but little-known treatment for autoimmune disease hyperbaric oxygen therapy !

HBOT has been used for decades in Europe with impressive results, yet its applied in a very limited capacity here in the US. Fortunately, as more patients seek out safer and more effective alternatives to pharmaceutical drugs, its slowly gaining traction.

This week well look at what it is, how it can help stop autoimmune disease progression and repair tissue damage, and what to expect during HBOT sessions!

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Transmission And Prevention Of Lyme Disease

In the United States, most cases of Lyme disease occur in the upper mid-western states, upper north-eastern states and the northwestern states on the West Coast. Ticks live in shady, wooded areas or heavily grassy areas and remain close to the ground. They can cling to tall grass, brush, and shrubs. The ticks responsible for the transmission of Lyme disease are typically in the nymph stage and are very small.

While they can bite and attach anywhere on a human, they are more likely to attach in hidden or hairy areas, such as the armpit, groin, and scalp. While it is possible, the transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi does not occur unless the tick has attached and been feeding for more than 36 hours. When hiking or camping, it is essential to check for ticks on a regular basis. And also remove them as soon as possible. The longer a tick remains attached, the greater your risk is of developing Lyme disease.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Benefits

The bacteria that cause Lyme disease in humans is anaerobic, like most bacteria. This means it does not use oxygen and dies off in a high oxygen environment. The way that hyperbaric therapy works is a person is put into a chamber that seals. The air pressure is increased and the air is made up of pure oxygen. With the added high pressure, blood oxygen levels are increased.

Since the bacteria that cause Lyme disease cannot survive in an oxygen-rich environment, it dies off. Together with antibiotics, the bacteria are completely killed off and the toxins left behind are removed too. Lyme disease treatment in humans is more than just killing the bacteria though. This is when the hyperbaric oxygen therapy becomes even more beneficial.

People who contract Lyme disease often have lingering symptoms, including muscle and joint pain, chronic inflammation, and nerve damage. The earlier that someone seeks treatment for Lyme disease, the better. When the bacteria, metals, and toxins that accompany Lyme disease bacteria sits in the body for too long, the symptoms and conditions get worse.

Other benefits of highly oxygenated blood from hyperbaric oxygen treatments includes:

  • Stimulated tissue repair
  • More white blood cells to boost the immune system
  • Repair and restore brain function
  • Heal damaged organs

Some patients are finding relief after suffering for years with these symptoms.

What to Expect During Treatment

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What Is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

At normal pressure, we breathe in air that is 21% oxygen. This oxygen saturates your red blood cells , which travel around your body and deliver it to tissue. The oxygen helps stimulate the release of growth factors, stem cells, and other substances needed for healing.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is the practice of breathing concentrated oxygen in a pressurized chamber. The increased pressure allows the oxygen to penetrate both RBCs and plasma, improving oxygenation throughout the body.

This stimulates the growth of new tissue, stem cells, and blood vessels, while enhancing immune function and acting as a powerful anti-inflammatory throughout the body.

Dr Bill Rawls Treatment Guide

Lyme Disease Treatment Options  Page 3  Entirely Health

Want to see more Lyme disease treatment ratings? See What Dr. Rawls has to say about popular treatments and therapies in his Lyme Disease Treatment Guide.

Dr. Rawls is a physician who overcame Lyme disease through natural herbal therapy. You can learn more about Lyme disease in Dr. Rawls new best selling book, Unlocking Lyme. You can also learn about Dr. Rawls personal journey in overcoming Lyme disease and fibromyalgia in his popular blog post, My Chronic Lyme Journey.

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How Does It Help With Lyme

Lyme and co-factors are anaerobic like most bacteria. Anaerobic means it does not like oxygen. Therefore, HBOT provides the optimal oxygen-rich environment to kill the Lyme bacteria. The great thing about HBOT is that it can be combined with other therapies, including antibiotics which makes them more effective. In addition to killing the Lyme bacteria, it also aids in reducing symptoms from Chronic Lyme. The high dose of oxygen treatment may reduce joint and muscle pain, and chronic inflammation.

Hbots Impact On Lyme Disease

Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment involves the inhalation of 100% pure oxygen while sitting in a hyperbaric suite which is pressurized with air to above atmospheric levels. During these sessions, oxygen levels in the bodys tissues rise to 10-15 times over that of normal conditions. In the 1990s, researchers at Texas A& M University found that HBOT treatments proved effective in treating Lyme Disease, because the higher pressurized atmosphere produced oxygen levels that killed off the bacterium that cause the disease. Chinese researchers also reported that they eliminated Lyme disease symptoms in a patient from Taiwan using HBOT treatments after treatments using antibiotics had failed.

Treatments at Aviv Clinic increases inter vascular oxygen concentration to 1,500 times more than normal diffusion into the regular tissues, including the protective biofilm, eradicating the spirochaetes. The results with current patients indicate the spirochete that causes Lyme disease cannot live in an oxygen-rich environment.

HBOT treats many of the neurological conditions associated with Lyme Disease, leading to less fatigue, better energy, more sleep and less joint pain. HBOT also supports maintaining healthy cognitive function as we age and our bodies become less efficient at processing oxygen. HBOT enhances both brain and body performance by boosting patients access to oxygen.

The Aviv Medical Program backed by a decade of research

Recommended Reading: Which Ticks Give You Lyme Disease

How Can Hbot Help Treat Lyme Disease

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, or HBOT, offers a unique treatment to Lyme disease that traditional therapies do not offer. As with most bacteria, the ones that cause Lyme disease are anaerobic. This means they are unable to survive in oxygen-rich environments. So, while the bacteria may develop resistance to traditional antibiotics, they cannot thrive in high levels of oxygen. Therefore, it only makes sense that HBOT and oxygen help.

HBOT treatments deliver high concentrations of oxygen under pressurized environments. The oxygen enters the body and effectively kills the disease-causing bacteria. While traditional therapy begins with antibiotics, many physicians are adding HBOT treatments at the same time, allowing the two treatments to work together to effectively cure the patient.

But hyperbaric oxygen doesnt just kill off the bacteria associated with Lyme disease. The high concentrations of oxygen help to treat symptoms and conditions that, for many, remain constant after test results show no more infection. In cases of PTLDS, HBOT often provides relief when nothing else does. Conditions such as joint and muscle pain, chronic inflammation, cognitive complications, and nerve damage often return to normal during the treatment.

Mainstream & Alternative Treatment Of Patients With Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Patients diagnosed early with Lyme Disease by a mainstream practitioner are typically prescribed oral antibiotics, recovering quickly and in most cases completely. According to the CDC, there are approximately 10-20% of patients who continue to suffer from recurrent or persistent symptoms. These patients are generally those who were diagnosed later after being infected.

In the 1980s a vaccination was developed to protect against Lyme Disease. This has since been withdrawn from the market due to fairly severe side effects that patients were developing including deformities.

Today with the increase of alternative practitioners other treatment options are being explored including infrared sauna, HBOT, diet manipulation, salt and vitamin C protocols and herbal antibiotic treatments. Alternative practices such as qigong and acupuncture have also been used to treat the disease, particularly those with chronic illness.

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Learn More About Lyme Disease And How Hbot Can Help With Recovery

Often called the great imitator because many of its symptoms resemble those of other diseases, Lyme disease is becoming increasingly common across the United States. Cases of Lyme disease have also been reported in South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

Learn more about the causes, symptoms and diagnosis of Lyme disease, and how hyperbaric oxygen therapy can help you with your recovery.

What is Lyme disease?

Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. Its transmitted to humans through the bite of infected black-legged ticks, also known as deer ticks. Lyme disease was first diagnosed in 1975 in Lyme, Connecticut by Allen Steere, MD.

What are the symptoms of Lyme disease?

The symptoms of Lyme disease differ depending on the length of time since infection.

Early signs and symptoms of Lyme disease include:

  • Fever
  • Fatigue
  • Muscle and joint aches
  • In 7080% of cases a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans resembling a bullseye will appear at the site of the tick bite.

The characteristic bullseye rash doesnt appear in all cases of Lyme disease. There may be a different type of rash or even no rash at all, meaning that Lyme disease is often misdiagnosed.

If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system.

Later signs and symptoms of Lyme disease include:

These longer term Lyme disease symptoms are also known as chronic Lyme disease.

How is Lyme disease diagnosed?

How do you treat Lyme disease?

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