Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

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Hyperbaric Therapy, also known as mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy,  (HBOT or HBO or mHBOT or HBT), is the medical use of oxygen in a  pressurized environment, at a level higher than 1 atmosphere absolute  (ATA). Increased pressure allows for oxygen to dissolve and saturate the  blood plasma (independent of hemoglobin/red blood cells), blood cells,  cerebral-spinal fluid, and other body fluids which yields a broad  variety of positive physiological, biochemical and cellular effects.  This noninvasive therapy is the most trusted way to increase oxygen  levels to all organs of the body. The typical treatment lasts for 60-90  minutes, during which the patient lies down and breathes normally. HBOT has been demonstrated in several clinical studies to enhance the  body’s innate ability to repair and regenerate. It is used as an  adjunct therapy to complement and enhance the healing process in both chronic and acute conditions.
 

 At sea level the atmospheric pressure is 1ATA (14.7 psi or pounds per  square inch), which allows the lungs to absorb a normal amount of  oxygen from the air. At higher altitudes, the pressure drops and the  lungs are not able to absorb as much oxygen from the air. This is why  oxygen masks drop in an airplane at high altitudes – to increase the  oxygen content due to the lack of pressure. The exact opposite happens  at lower altitudes (below sea level). There, the pressure is greater  (above 1ATA) and now the lungs can more easily absorb the oxygen, and at  a greater volume. Hyperbaria is based on the concept of the relationship of gas pressure and uptake in liquids (blood, plasma and tissues).  Henry’s Law  states that “a gas is dissolved by a liquid in direct proportion to its  partial pressure.”  For example, at sea level, atmospheric pressure is  760 mm Hg, the oxygen concentration is 21% and the body’s oxygen content  or partial pressure, pO2, in blood and plasma is ~ 40 mm Hg. Red blood cells have a limitation as to how much oxygen can bind with  hemoglobin.  The plasma portion of the blood typically has about a 3%  oxygen concentration. By placing someone in a in a 3 psi pressure hyperbaric environment,  the increase in atmospheric pressure at sea level goes from 760 mm Hg to  915 mm Hg.  This increase in gas pressure, increases the partial  pressure of the oxygen gas and thus forces more oxygen to be dissolved  in the plasma. This saturation of oxygen in the blood, due to the Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment or HBOT,  allows the extra oxygen to be diffused or transported to the  surrounding body tissues.  Thus, oxygen transport by plasma is  significantly increased under HBOT.   At three atmospheres pressure, enough oxygen can be dissolved in the  plasma to support the oxygen demands of the body at rest in the absence  of hemoglobin! Hyperbaric oxygen therapy  is designed to boost the supply of oxygen to ischemic tissue or to  diseased tissues that respond to increased oxygen levels.  Increasing  the volume of oxygen dissolved in the blood plasma produces five basic  effects:  

• Reduction of volume of gas bubbles in the blood
• Vasoconstriction, which reduces edema and secondary hypoxia
• Restoration of aerobic metabolism to ischemic tissue
• Detoxification of poisoned tissues
• Enhanced phagocytosis

Henry’s Law- Henry’s law states that for a gas-liquid interface the  amount of the gas that dissolves in the liquid is proportional to its  partial pressure.  So Henry’s law helps to predict how much gas will be  dissolved in the liquid.  The actual amount also depends on the  solubility of the gas as well as its partial pressure. Dalton’s Law-John Dalton observed that the total pressure of a gas  mixture was the sum of the pressures of each of the gases if they were  to exist on their own