A Look at 2 Cases: How HBOT Helped in Autism and Brain Injury Treatment

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Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) has emerged as an effective treatment for a number of medical conditions. There are conditions in which conventional therapies have not proved to be effective. In some of such conditions, HBOT has proved its potential to be considered as a viable treatment option. After experiencing HBOT’s benefits, many people are using a portable hyperbaric chamber in their homes, offices, and clinics to continue getting the therapy’s beneficial effects.

Autism and Traumatic Brain Injury are two such conditions, in which several patients have experienced substantial improvements with HBOT. Let’s look at 2 cases – a child with autism and a veteran with brain injury – and know how HBOT helped significantly in their improvement.

HBOT for Callum – Young Boy with Autism

Callum, a young boy with severe autism, had his communication abilities limited to slapping, biting and screaming tantrums. Callum’s mother, Lee Frost, took her son for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy treatment in a high-pressure oxygen chamber, for 3 months in 2013. Disheartened by an inadequate number of approved treatments for Callum, Ms. Frost came across HBOT through online research.

After getting the therapy, Callum, about 5 years of age now, is able to talk in sentences and get dressed up on his own in the morning before going to kindergarten, stated Ms. Frost. The therapy involved breathing pure oxygen inside a hyperbaric chamber for about 75 minutes at a time.

Dietary changes were also included in his treatment. Callum still has to go a long way, however, the child he is now, is a quite a different child, said Ms. Frost, living in White Rock at British Columbia in Canada.

HBOT for Ben Parkinson – Veteran with Brain Injury

Ben Parkinson was only 22 years old when a bomb blast at Afghanistan in 2006 left him with severe injuries. He lost both the legs and suffered major damages to his brain, arms, pelvis, skull and spine. Ever since, he is struggling to overcome these injuries.

However, Parkinson began a controversial treatment – Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. He, along with another injured veteran, Stephen Thomas, underwent HBOT, which involves inhaling 100% oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber at an atmospheric pressure which is up to twice the normal. Oxygen is supplied through a mask in the enclosed chamber. Just after one session of HBOT, Parkinson said that he was already experiencing its benefits.

Most of the specialists would state that about 8 years after the incident, no treatment would be likely to cause any improvement in a case of serious brain injury. However, Professor Philip James, who has been advising on Parkinson’s treatment, is quite optimistic.

He stated that so far, Ben made a remarkable recovery, and he is quite a brave young man. But his head injury hasn’t recovered. Parkinson gets severe fatigue that would certainly improve , according to what the Professor thinks. The speech of Parkinson is barely understandable sometimes, but it’s better at other times. This too would improve, as expected by the Professor.

Professor James illustrated that the treatment course depends on patients individually. It can be quite strenuous and there is no quick fix. Ben was probably going to undergo 21-hour sessions over a month, and was then going to be reviewed.

HBOT is always administered under the supervision of an authorized medical professional, whether the therapy is given to a patient at a clinic or hospital, or at a home or office in a portable hyperbaric chamber.

Although not approved by FDA for treatment of autism, brain injury and several other medical conditions, many patients and families with patients have reported of the remarkable benefits HBOT can provide in such conditions. Nowadays, HBOT treatment is offered by a number of clinics, alternative medicine centers and medical spas. Many companies, like OxyHealth LLC, offer portable hyperbaric chambers for use at home, office and clinic.

Chloe Paltrow
Chloe Paltrow, a medical assistant. She has shared her knowledge in various websites and blogs like PsychCentral, Collective Evolution and Pick The Brain. Currently, she is studying how brain injury and brain disorders can be treated with hyperbaric chambers.